The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Wednesday promoted 5,042 personnel and gave special awards to 15 commands and 70 officers for outstanding performances in the first half of 2024.

The chairman of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), disclosed this while decorating some of the promoted officers with their new ranks in Abuja.

Mr Marwa also elevated two senior officers to deputy commander general of narcotics (DCGN), 22 officers to assistant commander general of narcotics (ACGN), and 66 officers to commander of narcotics (CN).

He said that the promotion followed weeks of examinations and interviews conducted for qualified candidates.

The NDLEA boss said that the exercise was part of an ongoing exercise to enhance human resource management, particularly staff motivation and welfare.

According to him, this is for efficiency and effectiveness in the achievement of organisational goals, while prompt and timely promotion of all deserving and qualified officers remains top on my agenda.

“I am pleased to say that we continue to wax stronger on this journey we embarked on three and a half years ago when we decided to turn around the fortunes of this agency.

“This has been achieved by improving our performance as a precursor to reversing the perilous drug use situation in our dear country, Nigeria. On this occasion of the 8th edition of the commands’ awards and commendations ceremony, we have every reason to be thankful.

“This is because our performance continuously justifies our conviction in offensive action, the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), and other reforms that we undertook.

“For our modest efforts, we have received plaudits at home and abroad. What that means is that we have to do more.

“The reward for work well done is more work, and in our case, we cannot rest on our oars until all the objectives of our mandate are fully achieved. May I remind us that the bottom line is a drug-free Nigeria,” he said.

Mr Marwa said that the management would keep the officers motivated by ensuring that everything necessary was provided for a safe, secure and conducive environment for workers in the agency.

According to him, our new barracks in Adamawa, Abuja and Lagos are almost complete and will be inaugurated soon.

“The recent promotion of officers speaks volumes about our dedication to prompt and timely promotion of officers.

“It is symbolic of our effort to break the jinx of stagnation, which was once an albatross for our personnel,” he said.

(NAN)