Inter-ministerial committee seeks implementation of master plan
Chief Executive Officer of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig.-Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), yesterday, said the ongoing amendment to the NDLEA Act, when passed into law, would enable the agency to curb substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
Marwa stated this while making his remarks at the opening ceremony of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Drug Control meeting in Abuja.
He said: “We have to acknowledge, however, the existence of the funding challenge, which is limiting our capabilities in various ways. Nonetheless, we are looking forward to some positive developments that will lend impetus to the attainment of our set objectives.
“One such is the amendment of the NDLEA Act, which will significantly enhance the organisational capability of our agency in drug supply reduction.
“The hearing of the amended bill is making progress in the National Assembly and we look forward to it scaling the final hurdles,” he told the gathering of stakeholders from Ministries, Departments, Agencies and other local and international partners.
In his remarks, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Oliver Stolpe, said: “The achievement over the past years in enhancing law enforcement, increasing accessibility to treatment and rolling out prevention, and recently including harm reduction and Alternative Development, are all milestones that the NDLEA has created.”
Also speaking, the representative of ECOWAS Commission, Dr Daniel Amankwaah, noted that ECOWAS was excited about the NDLEA drug control masterplan because ECOWAS took inspiration from the NDLEA masterplan to encourage other countries to develop theirs.
In his welcome remarks, Special Adviser to the Chairman/CEO on National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP), Lanre Ipinmisho, said the meeting was called to assess efforts made by the IMC members so far, identify challenges and proffer solutions.
