Ganduje Opposes Legalisation of Cannabis as Marwa Visits Kano

Ibrahim Shuaibu

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has opposed any attempt to legalise cannabis sativa in Nigeria, even as he vowed that no lawmaker from the state will support such bid in the National Assembly.

Ganduje made the declaration yesterday when the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), led top officials of the agency on a courtesy visit to him as part of his ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy visit to the state.

The governor said Marwa is very important to Kano State and Nigeria because of the significance of his current assignment, which is equally key to winning the battle against insecurity in the country.

While granting the requests for land and accommodation for a zonal command, the governor assured his guest that beside the stand of the state government against drug abuse and trafficking, the predominant religion in the state, Islam, is against the twin evils of drug abuse and trafficking.

He said Kano State has the highest number of federal lawmakers in the National Assembly, adding that none of them will support any attempt to legalise cannabis.

In his remarks, Marwa urged the governor not to support any bid to legalise cannabis sativa by some elected officials in the country.

He said the NDLEA is currently doing so much to cut availability and accessibility to illicit drugs across Nigeria, adding that any attempt to legalise the illicit substance will be a setback to the progress made so far.

According to him, “With over 8, 634 arrests; 2,776,000 kilogrammes of drugs worth over N100 billion seized; 1,630 convictions; 3,232 cases in court and over 4,000 drug users counselled and rehabilitated between January and now, we are already making substantial progress in our drug supply and demand reduction efforts.

“We are, however, convinced that the ongoing attempts by some of our elected officials to legalise cannabis which is being abused by over 10.6million Nigerians will be a drawback for the achievements so far. This is why I want to implore Your Excellency and Kano State not to support the attempt to legalise cannabis.”

He warned landlords to ensure that they don’t accommodate drug traffickers in their houses, because NDLEA would not hesitate to seek forfeiture of any property used to store illicit drugs when the offenders are caught.