Tinubu reappoints Buba Marwa as the head of Nigeria's drug agency for another five years

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Retired Brigadier Buba Marwa as the chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year term until 2031.

Brigadier Marwa was first appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2021, after serving as the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020.  His tenure in the NDLEA has been remarkable for many drug busts, including the arrests of 73,000 drug mules and barons and the seizure of over 15m kilogrammes of various hard drugs.

A former military governor of Lagos and Borno states, the Adamawa-born soldier is proud of the fact that under his leadership, the agency also launched nationwide campaigns to address drug abuse. After his commissioning as a second lieutenant in 1973, Brigadier Marwa served as brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade, aide-de-camp to the chief of army staff, Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma and academic registrar of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

President Tinubu said: “Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your onerous efforts to rid our country of the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse. I urge you not to relent in tracking the merchants of hard drugs, out to destroy our people, especially the young ones.”

Among other things, Brigadier Marwa also served as deputy defence adviser at the Nigerian embassy in Washington, DC and later as defence adviser to the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations. He holds two postgraduate degrees - a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.