Since 1990 when he sneaked into national consciousness with his appointment as the military Governor of the then Borno state, Mohamed Buba Marwa, then a Lt. Colonel in the Nigerian Army never stopped dazzling us with sparks of a leader and statesman so much that for about three decades now, he has become a recurring subject and case study in leadership and public service.
The brilliant Army officer from Mubi, in Adamawa State, was the ‘Starboy’ of the era in those days of military rule, so much that hardest critics of the junta acknowledged his uncommon dexterity in leadership.
In Borno state, he had an early encounter with a semblance of the present security challenges holding the nation by the jugular. The lot fell on him to secure the vast sahelian landscape of the old Borno state from Chadian cross border bandits terrorising that axis.
He rose to the challenges in Borno at that time, with ‘Operation Zaki’ a novel security arrangement combining the armed forces and police personnel to combat internal security issues.
So huge and instantaneous was Operation Zaki’s success that it was adopted as a model by other states. The ebullient soldier confronted the situation in Lagos then, on assumption of office, with his experience in Borno. He re-invigorated Operation Sweep, earlier established by his predecessor, and personally took command of operations of the outfit. His exploits in Lagos has become a major record of his heroic tales and a reference point in leadership that has been adequately documented for posterity.
It remains a dent on Nigeria’s choice and preference for leadership that Marwa, the brilliant armoured corps officer, with his experience and exploit in Borno and later confronting the chaotic security situation, on assumption of office in Lagos, has not been found worthy of sitting atop Nigeria’s Defence ministry in critical moments such as the present crisis the country is managing.
Marwa would have deployed tact, intelligence and take the battle to the insurgents using technology aided with experience and deep understanding of the terrain just as he has turned around the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in such a way that one is tempted to ask ‘where the agency was’ all these while.
On the anniversary of Marwa’s second year in office as Nigeria’s anti-drug czar, the agency’s record of performance has out done its records since its establishment in 1989.
Marwa’s dynamic approach to the fight against narcotics has changed the narratives. It has yielded a new confidence, rebuilt trust and sincerity of purpose by the international community and partners in Nigeria’s determination to get rid of hard drug trafficking and its consumption by the populace.
Marwa came prepared for the job haven been Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) laid the groundwork for the total overhaul of the NDLEA and the numerous successes achieved in a record time.
On assumption of office, he changed tact and he will be on record as the first Drug Czar to embrace a multi-dimensional and holistic approach that aims to mitigate the harm done by drug use instead of the traditional just-say-no-ism of past helmsmen.
Within two years, he led the agency to arrest nearly 18,000 drug offenders including 10 notorious barons across the country. Within the same period, over 2,369 persons were convicted and jailed while more than 11,000 drug users were counselled and treated.
Under Marwa’s watch the NDLEA made mind burgling hard drug hurls in succession. On September 18, 2022, the NDLEA stunned the nation with the announcement of a 1.8 tons of cocaine worth N194 billion seized at a warehouse in Ikorodu, a suburb of Lagos, described by the NDLEA as the “biggest singular cocaine seizure in the history of Nigeria’s premier anti-narcotic agency.”
Days ago, the agency also made another seizure of illicit drugs worth N5bn. Within the last 24 months, narcotics valued at over N400 billion have been withdrawn from circulation by the NDLEA thereby preventing the illicit substances and cash from being pumped into the society by the drug barons.
By so doing, Marwa has saved Nigeria and the world at large from the perils of illicit drug peddling and consumption, his efforts has in no small way help to win the war against Boko Haram insurgents in North East and bandits in the North-West of Nigeria, by cutting off the much needed illicit drugs supply needed to fuel the activities of their fighters.
One of the approaches adopted by Marwa is the collaboration with the Nigerian movie industry in the drug war.
To Marwa, millions of young people watching Nigerian movies, even as they admire star actors, will be easily sensitised on the dangers of drug abuse through didactic stories. To achieve this, NDLEA used the opportunity of the United Nations Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking to release engaging flicks that will aid their work.
Tapping into Nigeria’s entertainment hotcake; Nollywood and its effect and ability to influence and modify behaviour of the youths who are prime targets of the agency’s campaign against illicit drug use and abuse, the agency in collaboration with the movie industry to premiere of two highly entertaining and enlightening movies: ‘Trap’ produced by actress, Jumoke Odetola and ‘High Is The New Death’, produced by Sule Momodu, a staff of the NDLEA.
In appreciation of his sterling performance at the NDLEA, the dazzling soldier, statesman and administrator has received commendations for his work. A national honour, Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR, as well as 19 chieftaincy titles across the country. These include: Aare Atunluse of Yorubaland; Atunluse of Ikorodu; Aare Agbaakin of Lagos; De Nukonga Gbedite of Badagry; Ochi Oha I of Umuozzi in Enugu; Ochinigwe of Igboland; Soludero of Egbaland; Mayegun of Ibadanland; Turakin Angasawa (Pankshin); Akinrogun of Osogboland; Babalaje of Ijeshaland; Ciroman Zah (Adamawa State); Apesin-Ola of Saki; Aare Atayese of Ayetoro (Ekiti); Atobase of Okeho; Mene-Yereba 1 of Ogoniland (Rivers State); Fagachin Adamawa; Aare Jagunmolu of Ogidi Kingdom (Kogi state); Otene Ete, Egbura (Koton Karfe), Kogi state and Santuraki of Abaji Kingdom, FCT.
The editorial board of this newspaper had no difficulty in arriving at the choice of the 69 year old soldier from a family of very rich pedigree of service to fatherland, his grandfather; Marwa Yola was a soldier, likewise his own father, Buba Marwa while his son, Mohamed Marwa is a Lt. Colonel in the Nigerian Army as well as a Ph.D student at University of Buckinham, as Nigerian of the Year, 2022 in recognition of his patriotic service to Nigeria and humanity.
