President Bola Tinubu has implored heads of national drug law enforcement agencies in Africa to renew the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in their respective countries.
Specifically, the Nigerian leader warned vehemently that the African continent would remain in chains till it breaks free from the shackles of the criminal enterprises of drug barons and syndicates of illicit drugs.
President Tinubu sounded the warning in Abuja on Tuesday when he declared open the 31st meeting of the Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa (HONLAF) at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
In his keynote address titled, ‘Rising Above the Drug Threat’, the President who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the event, observed that Africa was at the mercy of a threat that knows neither race nor geography, neither gender nor social class.
To this effect, he enjoined the heads of drug law enforcement agencies to consider the conference in Abuja as a ray of hope and a catalyst for positive change across the continent.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa restated stakeholders’ commitment to addressing the world’s drug problem, noting that Nigeria will continue to uphold the objectives of multilateral organizations dedicated to combating drug trafficking and related crimes.
CUE IN….Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd)-Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)
Speakers at the opening session of the meeting includes the Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), Mr Ghada Fathi Waly; the UNODC Country Representative, Mr Oliver Stolpe; The Commandant of the National Institute for Security Studies, Mr Ayodele Adeleke, among others.
