Okpebholo, Oba of Benin declare support for drug war as Marwa takes advocacy to Edo

Okpebholo, Oba of Benin declare support for drug war as Marwa takes advocacy to Edo

….Mobilises transport unions, religious leaders against substance abuse

The Governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo, and the Oba of Benin, His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, have declared their full support for the ongoing national campaign against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.

The two leaders spoke on Wednesday 4th November 2026, when the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), took the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy to Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Receiving the NDLEA Chairman and his team on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Benin City, Governor Okpebholo said he had long held Marwa in high esteem. “You are someone I have admired from afar since my secondary school days,” the governor said.

He stressed that the fight against drugs must be everybody’s business, because illicit drugs lie at the root of most crimes. “There is the need for everyone to get involved and support the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking, because at the root of virtually every crime is the issue of drugs. From our experience, even kidnappers first ask their victims for drugs before demanding ransom. That shows that illicit drug is our enemy,” he said.

The governor commended the NDLEA command in the state and pledged the government’s backing for the agency. “Your officers and men in Edo are doing excellent work. We are ready to work with you, we are ready to partner with you, and we are ready to support you with any request you bring before us,” he assured.

In his remarks, Marwa commended Governor Okpebholo for the giant developmental strides recorded across the state, noting that he had achieved much within a short time in office. He also lauded the governor’s firm stance against illicit drugs in Edo, describing it as the right approach because drugs are at the root of most criminalities.

The NDLEA boss explained that at the heart of the visit was the agency’s Alternative Development Programme, introduced last year to switch cannabis growers from illicit cropping to licit crops and sustainable livelihoods. According to him, the pilot phase of the scheme, launched in Ondo State in January this year, has been yielding impressive results, hence the decision to move to the next phase by launching it in Edo State. He therefore sought the governor’s buy-in and support for the initiative, as well as more logistics support for NDLEA operations in the state.

The high point of the visit was the decoration of Governor Okpebholo as a WADA Grand Ambassador, in recognition of his commitment to the fight against drug abuse and trafficking in Edo State.

Marwa and his team later paid a homage visit to the Oba of Benin at his palace, where he described the drug scourge as one of the three leading problems confronting Nigeria today. He noted that over 15 million Nigerians abuse drugs, a prevalence rate about three times the global average, and that the problem has crept into schools and communities across the country, including the Benin Kingdom.

He disclosed that only last year, the agency arrested over 1,200 drug traffickers and seized more than 30 tons of illicit substances in Edo state, while of the 16 million kilograms of assorted illicit substances seized nationwide in the last five years, 75 percent was cannabis, which is cultivated locally, with Edo among the cultivating states.

“It is the job of the NDLEA to enforce the law against drug trafficking, and as well help those who are addicted to drugs with counselling, treatment and rehabilitation. But this is an assignment that we cannot do alone. It is a whole-of-society approach. We need the traditional institutions, the church, CSOs, government and the media, because all hands must be on deck. Most importantly, the traditional institution, because there is no single institution in Nigeria today that commands the respect that the traditional institution has,” Marwa said.

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He acknowledged the Oba’s support in the fight against drugs and other social ills, including kidnapping and human trafficking, noting that the monarch’s intervention against human trafficking has helped bring down the menace in the kingdom. He sought the Oba’s blessing for communities across the kingdom to stay away from drug cultivation and trading, and for the Alternative Development Programme, which he said he had presented to the governor earlier in the day and which the governor welcomed.

Explaining the programme, Marwa said Nigeria is the first country in Africa to adopt alternative development as a strategic pillar of drug control, an approach welcomed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and endorsed by the Federal Government as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda. Under the scheme, cannabis growers are persuaded to switch to crops such as cassava, yam and maize, with support from the federal and state governments and the NDLEA in the form of farm inputs and community infrastructure such as roads, schools, clinics and water supply.

“The growers themselves have confided in us that they are grateful for this initiative. Even though there is more money in cannabis, they will at least have peace of mind when they cultivate licit crops. With cannabis, they are perpetually ill at ease in their homes with their families for fear of NDLEA,” he said.

Responding, the Oba of Benin thanked the NDLEA Chairman for the visit and for the recognition accorded the kingdom. “Thank you very much for recognising the work of Benin, the people and the culture of the people, and also the efforts we have been making to fight the scourge of drug abuse,” the monarch said.

The Oba added that he had a suggestion on how to improve the work of the agency, which he preferred to communicate privately. “I have a suggestion that I will make in writing to NDLEA. I would not want to state it here in public. I want to put it quietly as my own thinking on how to improve the work of NDLEA, and I will forward it directly to the Chairman for you to advise your formidable team,” he said.

As part of the WADA advocacy in the state, Marwa also held separate meetings with leaders of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state led by Comrade Saturday Oamen while he will address religious and civil society leaders tomorrow. Addressing the drivers union, he urged them to deploy their platforms and influence to sensitise their members and followers against drug abuse and trafficking, and to partner with the NDLEA in keeping the state’s roads, motor parks and communities free of illicit drugs.