Illicit drugs engenders instability, chaos, violence- Marwa

Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd) has stressed the need for every person in the country to work together to curb the menace of illicit drug abuse considering its overwhelming negative effect on national development.He said while the government is doing all it can, more results would be achieved if institutions join in the fight against drug abuse

This was contained in the speech he delivered at the 40th Olumide memorial lecture in Abuja

UN states in its 2018 data puts  Nigeria’s drug use at 14.4 percent, one of the highest in the world, while the world average is 5.6 percent

The speech delivered by the Chairman and CEO of NDLEA at the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors lecture, is  more like an expository on the economic implications of drug abuse

He says while Nigeria does not have statistics on the economic cost implications of drug use, the data from the US gives a picture

The economic cost of drug abuse in the US in 2007 was estimated at 193 billion dollars, out of these, lost productivity accounted for about 120 billion dollars

He goes on to explain that violence and crime in Nigeria has been directly linked to drug use especially the activities of Boko Haram

Despite the efforts of his agency in addressing trafficking in drugs, criminal elements will go to any length to bring drugs into the country

The Institution on its part, said it has the capability to help NDLEA locate cannabis plantations as a way of preventing drug abuse.