By JKNewsMedia Reporter
CALLS FOR a strong national response and sustained support for an alternative development programme dominated a briefing by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa retired, as he urged stakeholders to curb illicit cannabis cultivation, uplift rural communities and strengthen national security.
JKNewsMedia.com Marwa spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday 3 February 2026 to rally support for what he described as the first in Africa drug control initiative, whose pilot scheme was launched last week in three cannabis growing communities in Ondo State.
Explaining the strategy, Marwa said the concept goes beyond crop substitution and listed its wider benefits as strengthening rural economies through value chain development, reducing the burden on law enforcement and the justice system, promoting peace and social cohesion in crime prone areas, supporting national food production and agricultural diversification, and improving Nigeria’s international standing in global drug control and development cooperation.
According to him, “this approach represents a win-win solution for communities, for government, and for national security.
Marwa said the successful take off of the pilot scheme in Ilu Abo, Ifon, and Eleyewo in Ondo state last week clearly demonstrates that alternative development works when communities are engaged, supported, and empowered.
We therefore call for a strong national response and sustained support from all stakeholders across all layers of government, traditional rulers and community leaders, development partners and donor agencies, the private sector and agricultural value chain actors as well as civil society organisations and the media.”
He urged affected communities to embrace the model and work with the agency in building lawful, productive and secure livelihoods, adding that the programme is “a people centred development intervention designed to uplift communities, strengthen national security, and secure Nigeria’s future.”
He said the agency remains committed to expanding the programme nationwide in alignment with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Marwa said host communities and their leaders expressed acceptance and support for the pilot, noting they viewed it as providing lawful income for farmers, reducing poverty and vulnerability, improving food security through alternative crops, and enhancing stability and safety.
He added that replacing cannabis cultivation with sustainable agricultural and economic opportunities tackles the root causes of drug production.
Citing the 2018 National Drug Use Survey (NDUS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with technical support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC), he said 14.4 percent of Nigerians aged 15 to 64 years, or about 14.3 million people, reported using at least one psychoactive substance in the past year, more than twice the global prevalence.
He said cannabis dominates both consumption and illicit cultivation.
Marwa disclosed that about 10.6 million adults reported using cannabis in the past year, while assessments in the South-West showed nearly 8,900 hectares under cultivation, often hidden in forests and remote areas and clustered in networks supplying domestic demand and trafficking beyond Nigeria’s borders.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that according to Marwa, out of 15 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs seized by the agency in the past five years, over 75 per cent were cannabis.
He expressed confidence that the initiative would reverse the trend with strong national support and commended partners including the UNODC, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD), the Mae Fah Luang Foundation (MFLF), friendly countries and development partners, as well as Ondo State Governor Dr Lucky Ayedatiwa and the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Senator Abubakar Kyari, represented by Mrs Alao Temitayo.
