Buba Marwa: Drug Peddlers Now Take My Name to Herbalists

Behind his infectious and nerve-calming smile was his steely resolve to change the narrative at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). Whatever might have been responsible for the deterioration in the use of illicit drugs across the country, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa(rtd), boasted an unusual confidence with the belief that the war was winnable. Although he believed that the current efforts at the NDLEA would require the support of the Nigerian people, both in the private and the public sectors to pull through, the former Borno and Lagos States military administrator, speaking to THISDAY, maintained that his men were determined to break the stranglehold of drug abuse and trafficking on the people, even if it meant putting their lives on the line. Excerpts:

Since January this year, there appears to be a lot of energy and activity coming from the NDLEA. You seem to have breathed vibrancy back into the agency, which had been in the doldrums for a long time. What would you say was responsible for the total turnaround? Was it a leadership question?
All praises belong to the Almighty God in these matters. I must be very clear. At the beginning that I picked it up from the mandate of the president, and right from when he set us up in the Presidential Advisory Committee for the elimination of drug abuse and to find and proffer solutions to eliminate drug abuse in Nigeria, it was clear to me that this is a president, who is well seasoned in this matter. And I hasten to add the support of the first lady, her Excellency herself.

So you have the first family behind you (because you remember she herself was part of that committee). From there, you can see the interest. You know, the leaders, our leaders generally do not have much interest in the issues of drug abuse, addiction, drug addicts. They look more towards tangible projects. Nobody wants to be remembered to have had anybody he rehabilitated and all these types of things. Right from the word go, we did our assignment. When I now got deployed to the NDLEA and picking from that, the first thing I faced was the personnel themselves, to motivate them, that’s really the long and short of it. The personnel themselves, the tools of work and of course the partners, the international partners. But mostly, the personnel themselves. They are the ones that have brought the change.

Were the personnel not there under the previous leadership or are you now working with different personnel? What changed? Was it the motivation that you brought in? Or was it just a problem that the previous leadership didn’t have the vision to appreciate the dangers that drug abuse posed to the country?
I think it’s just a matter of style. It’s a matter of style and strategy. You know, from the security background, we learnt that morale is a battle-winning factor. It is standard in the army. It’s, in fact, the most important battle-winning factor. So when you range opposing forces with exactly the same type of equipment, feeding, training, it’s really who has higher morale, which is developed also out of the leadership. That’s really what it is. The strategy that I followed, and this matter of morale, let me go a little bit into it.

You have a workforce that has stagnated in promotion for 20 years. For 21 years, somebody on the same rank! I just figured, could you be the GOC in Nigeria for 21 years in one place? Or could you be a captain for 20 years? That’s a big problem we’re able to resolve. We went, we did the harmonisation committee, led by a very able officer, who is working closely with me in the agency. We did that, and equally, we’re friends with the president.

Debt, heavy debt, liabilities, particularly of our personnel families, who are widowed. In the last 15 years or so, we lost 188 officers and members. That’s very high because it’s a hazardous operation, and now, they go on duty and are killed. Then, they contribute money for burial and to send home the dead. That’s very debilitating, and the others are watching. So they feel that if I die now, that means this is what my family will suffer? And then, there’s no insurance, you know, for injuries; life insurance, we don’t have that. Then, the posting; they’re not moved at all. There is also a matter of tools. You need tools, because the other side is well armed, we got this from the Nigerian Army. So basically, the motivation and the strategy that we pursued, I think, are responsible.

So what is it like chasing after drug cartels all over the place?
As you’ve said, the word cartel epitomises an organisation. This organisation tries to insulate the leadership by breaking into layers. So you always have multiple layers so that you can’t get to the top. My background in the military; also, I did some work on intelligence – the defence intelligence agency has been helpful. We had some training apart from the intelligence training built into the service.

That helped me in dealing with the cartels, because now our operations are intelligence-based. We don’t just jump anywhere. If you look at the seizures at the various ports, particularly in the airports, people have asked me: ‘But how did you know there’s drugs under the bag or in the hair or in those bottles and so on?’ It’s intelligence viewing and operation by the staff. That’s really what it is. And finally, the support of international partners, because we share intelligence.

Almost every day, there are press statements announcing seizures and arrests. Was it that the previous leadership just went to sleep?
I’m unable to comment on my predecessors, except to say that each of them did their bit to the best of their ability.

Would you say it’s a function of the capacity of leadership?
I’d say style and strategy.

You talked about the cartel being a multi-layered organisation, and that there have been seizures upon seizures. But not much has been heard about drug barons or any of their ringleaders being arrested. What more can you say about that?
Okay, maybe you have not noticed, but we have. The arrests of traffickers and drug sellers and so on have now exceeded over 9,000, of which about half are in process of court. Those are the arrests. But we put some into the court process for prosecution. Some actually go for rehabilitation, because the point is, you have to distinguish between the users and the sellers. But once you go out on an operation, you seize everything and arrest everyone and then in the process, you will determine the person you will prosecute and so on.

But of that number, six barons, a particular one, for 10 years had been on the run and we had been unable to get him. Another one too, for five years – have all been arrested. Another one was caught here at the airport – a politician of note in Lagos. So that’s a sizeable number, because you know, one drug baron could have 2,000 people down the street. It’s quite a number. And I’ve heard some say, ‘Well, you know you’re just arresting the small people’. You have to arrest them because at the end of the day, if there’s nobody to sell for you, how will you sell?

So we have also to eliminate that and secondly, through them, using our own means, which is intelligence-based, we’re able to track all the way to the top. You know it’s a puzzle, isn’t it? This person, you get the information and so forth. This one, this one and you put it together with other information that you have, so these are very important methods. We also recognise the fact that we need to clean the streets of drugs, because the prevalence of drug use in Nigeria involves close to 15 million people now – 14.3 million. So when you seize, clean the streets, that way, you are also starving availability to the drug users.

Talking about cleaning the streets, the feeling of your frustration about the prevalence of this menace is palpable. What do you think is responsible for this huge drug crisis that the country is facing? And two, when you look at the enormity, do you think it’s actually a winnable war from the way things stand?
Well, from the Presidential Advisory Committee, we were able to determine maybe 20 risk factors, which push people into drugs. Some of the critical ones are there, you know you have those who just experiment. They just say what’s happening, let’s see what it’s like. And the ones that the peers push you into and you want to be part of. You want to be part of the society to belong, or some occasional use and so on. Yeah, those ones are there. Education could be lacking, but the main thing really is that poverty is pushing drug abuse and trafficking. Poverty, no jobs, leading to idleness and frustration, and so you need a little help to get you out of this misery.

That’s really the main thing. And it’s also, as you can see, part of the reason that the president is pushing for lifting Nigerians out of poverty – to have something to do, to have jobs. You know, the university students, the programme that they’re doing under the ministry of humanitarian resources, TraderMoni, market money. The support for industry like the Bank of Industry is doing, so that the small and medium industry can thrive, they’re the actual engines of creating jobs in any economy. This is the way forward. So it’s a winnable war. It’s winnable.

What therefore, is the solution?
That’s what we’re doing, isn’t it? First, the macro-economic aspect, where prosperity is needed to tackle poverty, and I know that the government has its programme of lifting a hundred million Nigerians out of poverty over 10 years, which means the president will also hand over to the next person and he will continue. We have to face that aspect. And then secondly, is the campaign called the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA. This is mostly advocacy and preventive. The focus is preventive. I mentioned earlier that about 15 million Nigerians use drugs which conversely means about 180 million are not.

We have to face that aspect, which is what WADA is all about. The entire country must be mobilised. This is going to pick up next year, because we started in the middle of a budget year now, and not much can be done. But from next year, we’re going to do more ferociously—the war against drug abuse. We’re going to face families, communities, the school system, drug-free clubs in schools, drug-control committees at local government, communities, and the states.

We must push advocacy, the traditional institutions, the religious institutions, and we have to really think towards those solutions, because of the dearth of rehab centres in the country. We plan, hopefully, by the end of this year to set up a call centre that will also address the problem of stigma, because some people have this situation but they hide in their houses. They don’t want to go for treatment, so that they don’t see them and say so, so the person has this ailment. But at least, they can reach their phone. We’re really looking at the issue of drug abuse, drug testing. If you know you’re going to be tested for drugs before admission, or before employment or before running for a political office, you know, all this will bring down the cases, and it is for this reason we’ve also suggested that before the wedding, let it be part of the documentation.

Now, if I ask the question, would you like to marry a drug addict? You know, you ask any girl, and she’ll say no. So since you’re checking for HIV, genotype, why not check for this? Instead of a one-chance occasion, that’s right because the suitors and the brides, you know, they are always in their best behaviour, you never know what’s going on until after the marriage, then you discover that he/she is a drug addict. This aspect is being supported by the clergy of both religions, because they’re the ones that can do the marriage, and they’re saying yes. You know, they have experience, they have experiences of their daughters running around trying to save themselves from knife-wielding husbands, who are intoxicated. It’s a terrible situation. It is winnable.
Poverty being one of the causes of the drug crisis doesn’t quite sit well. Drug abuse is an expensive habit. If poverty is the issue, where are they getting the money to support the lifestyle?

Actually, under the presidential advisory committee, we dug deep into previous research, and it is not just in our area, it is global, and cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin – those are pretty expensive but not cannabis, which is grown locally, and it is sold quite inexpensively, I must say. So that is why 70 per cent or higher of the drug users use cannabis. 10.6 million Nigerians use cannabis. They smoke it. They eat it, they drink it, they even snort it. It’s quite amazing the imagination of people when they want to do something.

That is the thing. You gentlemen may not understand poverty the way you are because you are, I’m sure, living comfortably. Let’s put it that way, because you don’t want me to say that you are rich. But for those who are not sure ‘when is my next meal’, there is nothing to do; they need to get out of it even temporarily, and that’s why advocacy and the need for early counselling. When I mentioned the drug test for weddings, I did not imply that if you fail the test, you’ll be thrown out of the window. No, at least, your would-be-partner would know the situation that you’re in, and he or she can say, “Go and get treatment. Until you’re negative, we’re not going to get married.”

From your field observation, is there a distinction between poverty as a factor and the urge to survive, and also, there’s a nexus between drug abuse and insecurity?
Well, it’s a business bringing in huge chunks of money. It would appear that there is no business in the world that brings so much cash with little effort in terms of productivity. You could just sell, because of the lure, you can see they take chances. Now, I will tell you something. Through our methods, we hear a lot of things electronically and not once or twice. Through our human intelligence means, we hear the traffickers are actually consulting with medicine people, herbalists and so on, asking them for the successful days that they will operate, and they mention my name, Marwa.

I hear it. They want to be certain, they are leaving from so so place, they are going to so so place, which day of the week will they be more fortunate, because we are everywhere now. And then, of course, the rich, yes, to get high, to have a good time, they usually do cocaine and stuff, but the majority is really caused by poverty. I identified that in Lagos with the area boys and girls at the time. When I came in 1996 to this place if you remember, I don’t know if you yourselves were in Lagos at the time.

But you know ladies wouldn’t move around Isale Eko and places with trinkets, nice handbags and so on, because area boys will snatch them and people with beautiful cars, park the cars at home, because they are going to ask for money or they will break the windscreen and so on. We initially did treat them as criminals, but later, after considering the size of arrests, the government at the time collectively studied the situation and decided that the way out was first to rehabilitate and give them a living, because poverty was part of it.

They had nothing to do. They were also idle. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop, as they say. So we did a rehab centre and gave them skills and seed money. And that is an important ingredient: seed money. Often, they miss that boat. It is not enough to train somebody in tailoring and bakery and say, ‘Okay, we’ve taught you skills, off you go’. To where? Because nothing to start with.

Now, insecurity. Throughout military history, men of war have used intoxicants especially, in the medieval age, where people battled with axes and shields and so on. Right there and then, fighting and attacking each other physically in close proximity, unlike today, where you see missiles. They’ve always used intoxicants to get the fear in them out and to build courage and fierceness. This has persisted until this day. For this reason and empirically, we have seen it. Boko Haram, the bandits, terrorists, all of them use drugs. How do we know? Not just because of their acts and because once their area and camps are captured, they always see remnants of drugs.

This is from our military quarters, and those of them who are arrested always go through withdrawal symptoms after arrest a few days with no drugs. I had personally interacted with kidnapped but released individuals just to find out what was going on in that camp when they were there. And they told me emphatically. They don’t eat. They are always popping pills and smoking cannabis, and so on. There is this definite nexus, which means if we’re able to resolve the drug supply problem, crime will completely reduce.

We have the case of children slaughtering their parents. There was a case that recently came to my attention. The son asked the mother for money. And she said, ‘No money. I can’t give you any money. This is for drugs’. He got a kitchen knife and slaughtered her’. In many families, parents don’t go to bed until the children are fully asleep, and if the children have gone out, they wait until they come back. There is a particular parent, who is a big man, let’s put it that way, but a decent fellow. I’ve known him for years. We had this meeting, and he actually told me every night is a harrowing experience until the son returns. And he’s always there waiting for the bad news.

Maybe, something happened, or he got killed or got into an accident and all these types of things. So, back to the question of the nexus. Eight weeks or so ago, we had this Captagon seizure here (Lagos) in the port, which is the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa. Working closely with our international partners, we were able to, in this case, get good information from our American partners and from the Saudis on this particular shipment. But we didn’t know what it was. We only got the intelligence that there was a particular container that they suspected was carrying drugs. And we traced it, and that container made its way to Nigeria across several countries and several ships being switched just to hide it. They changed the ship to another one. Then eventually, it arrived. We found that there were just machines inside, just machines, which we brought out and we had to break into it. We had to tear it open, which has its own element of risk, because if we destroy somebody’s machine and nothing is found there, we are liable.

But we had confidence in the information we received. We knew somewhere something was buried in there, and indeed, when we extricated them, our sniffer dogs showed that something was there. Now, we went into it with electric cutters, cut it open and extricated in that particular shipment about 75 kilograms of Captagon, which is an amphetamine. Now, what is Amphetamine? Amphetamine is a stimulant that goes back to actually Pre-World War days. But World War II epitomises the amphetamines used by the German forces at the time, which was supplied officially to the troops in the beginning stages.
When you read some historical stories, you’ll find that initially, all the way to 1942, the campaign was in favour of the Germans, because at the beginning, they issued amphetamines to troops. So they became superhuman, ferocious, fearless, and more violent. They could go without tiredness for days, without sleeping. It’s that type of thing. That was what we arrested there by half a million (inaudible). It was destined to where? North East, North West, all those terrains. Imagine what it would have unleashed on Nigeria. So it’s a total war against drug peddlers. We won’t let down.

This brings us to the issue of the youth of today. And the degree of drug abuse. What really needs to be done, because the problem seems to have eaten deep into the fabric of society or was it all a failure of parental upbringing? How did the children of today get so involved with drugs?
I have to say it from the beginning, this terrain has been long neglected. Sometimes, when you neglect, the wound festers, as is the case with drug abuse. But the steps that are being taken would have to be steps that would dissolve this issue over time. It is not something that, with the snap of a finger, would just go away. And the youth, as you said, are heavily involved. First, as I mentioned, is the issue of poverty. We have to address it. Actually, we have to address it, because it is the underlying factor in all societies, including America. Second, we have to interfere with the availability of and access to drugs because if you don’t have the drugs, you can’t use them. That’s why we’re going all out to make sure throughout the country, we are mopping up illicit substances.

It is very, very important. And also, because drug abuse extends to other things, you know, prescription and so on, I know the Pharmacists Council Bill is with the National Assembly. We hope to seal the part that will carry appropriate penalties instead of the weak penalties that are given to us and prescriptions. People don’t go and prescribe drugs themselves. It is very important. It is one aspect, and the other aspect, which is more to the point is to face the consumers themselves. Let’s start with the family. Parenting is critical first, because they themselves, that is, the parents, have to set the example. If the parents are abusing drugs or even sending the children, ‘go and buy cannabis and so forth’, children will stay by the side and try it.

The example has to be set. It’s very important. And then proper cohesiveness and love in the family. Sometimes, parents completely neglect their children to their own fate. We’ve had situations of some of these children in one of the northern states. He left home, you know there are other issues – polygamy and a lack of care. In that case, the mother has been divorced or so, and the new co-wives will first have to cater to their children rather than the other one. So the boy went out and joined other gangs, scavenging for food, and it’s from there that they started using drugs, because they tell you, ‘if you try this pill, it will kill the hunger and make you even happier’.

But one of the NGOs we worked with was reporting to me. They took the boy back home, and the father welcomed them, and he said, ‘Now that you have brought him, you have to feed him because I can’t feed him’. The family is very important. Then, the school system. I have been in touch with the Federal Ministry of Education. In fact, they were on the committee of the presidential advisory committee. There’s actually a drug curriculum, in the education system, right from the primary school’s curriculum but not as a subject, drug abuse or something, but it’s built into the various social sciences and so on. That one is there. It has to be intensified. And the schools, though from secondary I think, need to put all of them in drug-free clubs. I had this meeting just earlier last week with the vice-chancellor of the University of Abuja; he is dedicated and concerned. We had some of this discussion with him.

The drug-free club is there for our children to propagate and understand through lectures and stuff within the school community the dangers of drug use and why they should avoid it. Encouraging and reporting those, who are using it to counsellors, we have to do counselling centres in the institutions; we’re just going through these things. The country needs far more counselling and help centres, and in this way, the president is supporting the NDLEA to do more rehab centres next year. We’re looking at six more per zone in addition to the 25 that we ourselves have in our commands.

The clergy have a very, very important role to play also. Not only in their sermons but beyond that. Some of the clergy have set up rehab centres of their own camps. I believe it’s all part of the training to be a clergyman, both Muslim and Christian, in the aspect of counselling in life which includes this. So the clergy and the traditional institutions, community leaders, the media, and everyone — all Nigerians must stand up and face it.

There’s something very important that the first lady said just a few days ago. She said celebrities should stop making drug abuse look like it’s a normal thing, and you know celebrities have the power to really influence young people, who look up to them. Are you getting them involved in this campaign – like some kind of partnership with the NDLEA?
Absolutely! They’re role models. Isn’t it? We’ve started. Unfortunately, as you also observed, those leaders amongst them who we want to partner are themselves abusing drugs. First, they need to be counselled themselves, but we’ve actually made outreaches. We have already met some that are working with us. Some are working within the special advisory committee. It’s an ongoing process, just to let you know that we’re working with some of them.

How about making a scapegoat of some of them?
Well, if we find what needs to be seized. With substances, you know we really don’t discriminate.

What about the politicians? Are they supporting your fight against drug abuse? This is because you earlier mentioned that every politician should be tested before vying for office. But not enough has been heard of their support.
We definitely have their support. I’ve been around advocacy with the state governments. All the governors so far support what we’re doing. It’s only one, who wanted to legitimise cannabis, you know. And we are also talking with him to understand that it’s not always just the money we look at. We have to also look at the health factor, which is the primary function of government, isn’t it? Welfare and security of the people. The state governments have been supportive as far as this war against drug abuse is concerned.

The National Assembly also, I know there’s a committee in the House that is also proposing the legalisation, but I am almost certain that it will not be passed, because the majority recognise the ills that drug abuse is bringing upon us. I also know that the House committees are proposing a bill for drug testing. And that drug testing includes politicians, because public service affects more lives than any sector. When you become a chairman of a local government, you will have doctors under you, engineers and so on. But everybody is looking up to you.

So if you’re using drugs, first, you will spend the whole money buying cocaine, and second, your head will not be right cause you will have had a brain disorder. You will be hearing voices, and there’s no way you’ll perform to the best for the public, and you can elevate that to governors, senators, which means that they should be tested before running for office. The Kano State government is already doing that. That’s right. They’re doing that. And the security agencies, people with weapons, have to have clear heads otherwise you’ll be having accidental discharges everywhere.

Apart from your military background, what else prepared you for this assignment, because you took off almost very ready, hitting the ground running?
I must have mentioned that my tenure here (in Lagos as a military governor) was a good sort of background, when you had to deal with the thousands of street urchins and rehabilitate them. That’s one aspect. I was part of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the elimination of drug abuse. Obviously, I was going to work in the NDLEA. That was just a committee, so it gave me a good background of what was at play. But that said, the issues obviously at the committee level would not be as you would find on the ground when you start the work.

At least, that gave some background. Interest and passion helped. I think this is a job that calls for passion. Not many people, I would say, may have a passion for this type of work. But somehow, they feel, oh, okay, the drug abusers, why do you rehabilitate them? They know what they’re doing, using drugs. They are the scum of the earth. Let them perish where they are and so on. You still have these types of people. But we’re determined to do the right thing the right way.

How do you deal with threats to your officers, because these people will fight back — the cartel and all of that? Even you, your family, have you been getting threats?
It’s a hazardous assignment to us all. Not only the chairman of the NDLEA, the doctors and men in the agency. It all comes with the territory.

The president must have had some level of trust and confidence in you to have handed you this job since he’s said to only appoint people he trusts. Is he impressed with your efforts, and what’s the relationship like?
He’s impressed. The president is on record as commending the NDLEA for its efforts, and we’re all encouraged. I pass this type of recommendation by the commander-in-chief to the officers; very encouraging to us all, and the relationship obviously is perfect, and I like to use that word between a superior and his subordinate.