Skip to main content

NDLEA Excited As Lawmakers Discard Cannabis Bill

             retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) are reeling in excitement as lawmakers discarded a bill seeking to decriminalise cannabis cultivation, sale and use in Nigeria.

NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa said on Friday in Abuja that the decision of the lawmakers to reject the bill would further strengthen the gains recorded in the renewed war against drug abuse and trafficking in the country.

BOblog reports that members of the House of Representatives had on Thursday stepped down the bill.

Marwa noted that the 2018 drug survey figure of 10.6million Nigerians abusing cannabis alone was enough for the lawmakers to act swiftly.

He stated that the linkage between drug abuse and security challenges across the country is incontrovertible, adding that insecurity, which manifested in banditry, insurgency and kidnapping is already a full-blown malady.

A statement  issued by the agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, quoted Marwa as saying that: "There has never been a government that is more committed to ending this spate of insecurity than the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari."

While describing drug abuse as one of the factors triggering insecurity, he hinted that Nigeria cannot afford to permit the cultivation, sale and use of the most abused illicit drug under whatever guise.

He described the decision of the legislators to reject the reintroduction of the cannabis bill as a welcome and cheering news to NDLEA.

“It is a big thing also to the Nigerian public especially parents who daily and silently contend with the pains of seeing millions of their kids and wards go down under the devastating effects of cannabis abuse, “he added.

The chairman hinted that history would never forget those who stood with parents to protect them and their children against the dangers of drug abuse. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

11- month Unpaid Salaries: FG Returns EHCON To Budget Circle By 2025

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja Stakeholders and Staff of EHCON in a group photograph at the unveiling of EHCON’s Electronic Documentation Management Center (EDMC) in Abuja on Wednesday. The Federal Government has stated that plans are underway to return the staff of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) to budgetary allocation by 2025 and facilitate the payment of 11-month unpaid salaries. Minister of Environment, Alhaji Balarabe Abbas Lawal stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at the unveiling of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria's (EHCON) Electronic Documentation Management Center (EDMC).  The centre, which is domiciled at the headquarters of EHCON in the Federal Secretariat, was built by EHCON in partnership with Agro - Climate Resilience in Semi Arid Landscape (ACReSAL) and financed by the World Bank. News Rider reports that the staff of EHCON received their last salary in December 2023, which  implied that from January to November 2024, the workforce are y...

EHCON Seals Deal With SEPHON, EPHPAN, WAHEB To Revamp Environmental, Public Health

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja Registrar of  Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) Dr Yakubu Baba  displaying a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Registrar of West African Health Examination Board (WAHEB) Mrs Bola Oladejo in Abuja on Tuesday.  In line with global best practices, the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) has sealed deal with strategic professional bodies to revamp environmental and public health issues across the country.  They are Society for Environmental and Public Health of Nigeria (SEPHON), Environmental and Public Health Practitioners of Nigeria (EPHPAN), and West African Health Examination Board (WAHEB).  Registrar of EHCON, Dr Yakubu Baba stated this on Tuesday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the professional bodies in Abuja.  He noted that Environmental Health (EH) is a profession recognised and established by Act 11 of Environmental Health Officers Registration Counc...

EFCC: You Do Not Change A Winning Team

By Iliyasu Gashinbaki          Iliyasu Gashinbaki I have read the letter from the former President, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, addressed to the Chairmen of the Constitution Review Committee of both chambers of the National Assembly- Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives.  I was looking for his prayers to the esteemed lawmakers on clear and unambiguous anomalies he observed in the Establishment Act of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that need legislative action in the review exercise. I must confess, I could not find any.  Instead, the legal luminary made a sweeping statement that is neither rooted in facts nor verifiable evidence that “I very strongly believe the EFCC is unconstitutionally established. The powers under which it was established go beyond the powers of the National Assembly. The EFCC is an unlawful organisation.” How? I have asked myself repeatedl...