The chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.) has called on traditional institutions and parents across Nigeria to join forces with the agency in tackling the menace of substance abuse.

Mr Marwa made the call on Saturday, while speaking as the chairman of the 10th anniversary of Akinale Day and the maiden coronation anniversary of Oba Oluseyi Ayodeji Adediran, Otileta I, Towulade of Owu Akinale in Ogun State. 

Femi Babafemi, the director of media and advocacy, in a statement in Abuja, described Mr Marwa’s attendance as a pilgrimage of friendship, respect, and deep-seated admiration.

He recalled his close relationship with the monarch spanning nearly two decades, dating back to Oba Adediran’s days as leader of the Lisabi Youths. 

He commended the traditional ruler’s leadership qualities, noting that the same virtues he displayed as a youth leader now guide his one-year-old reign on the throne of Owu Akinale.

Turning to his primary mandate as NDLEA Chairman, Mr Marwa warned that drug abuse does not discriminate, adding that it affects rich and poor, urban and rural communities alike.

He urged parents to return to core parenting values by monitoring their children and watching for early behavioural changes.

He appealed directly to youths to reject illicit drugs, describing substance abuse as a false escape that multiplies rather than solves problems.

The NDLEA boss further charged the royal council and community leaders in Owu Akinale to establish community-based advocacy networks. 

This, he said, was to make the town a hostile environment for drug peddlers while providing support for those struggling with substance use dependence. 

He stressed that the agency could not win the war against drug abuse without the partnership of traditional institutions and monarchs who understand youth dynamics. 

He, however, spoke against the backdrop of the recent discovery of Nigerian-Mexican cartel-operated industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in the forests of Ogun and Oyo states. 

Mr Marwa urged traditional rulers and community leaders in the southwest and the country as a whole to pay attention to activities of strangers in their forests, adding that those seeking to buy farmlands in rural communities must be properly vetted.

(NAN)