President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renewed the appointment of Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) as Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for another five-year term, solidifying his leadership of Nigeria’s anti-drug war until 2031.
The announcement was contained in a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy. Marwa, who first assumed office in January 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, has led the agency through one of the most aggressive anti-narcotics campaigns in its history.
A former military governor of Lagos and Borno States, Marwa previously chaired the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse from 2018 to December 2020, before being tapped to head the NDLEA.
The Adamawa-born retired officer is an alumnus of the Nigerian Military School and the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973, he served in various high-profile military and diplomatic roles, including brigade major of the 23 Armoured Brigade; Aide-de-Camp to then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Theophilus Danjuma; academic registrar of the NDA; Deputy Defence Adviser at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, DC; and Defence Adviser to Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Marwa holds two postgraduate degrees — a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.
During his first term at the NDLEA, the agency recorded unprecedented successes, including the arrest of more than 73,000 drug traffickers and barons, as well as the seizure of over 15 million kilogrammes of assorted hard drugs. His administration also intensified national advocacy against drug abuse, launching widespread sensitisation campaigns across communities.
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In his message to the NDLEA boss, President Tinubu praised Marwa’s efforts and urged him to remain relentless in combating drug trafficking.
“Your reappointment is a vote of confidence in your onerous efforts to rid our country of the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse. I urge you not to relent in tracking the merchants of hard drugs out to destroy our people, especially the young ones,” the President said.
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