The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has commended the Chairman/CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig.‑Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, for his excellent leadership.
The UAE Government said Marwa’s leadership has led to “streaks of operational successes in the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.”
It assures NDLEA of stronger partnership and support.
The assurance and commendation were conveyed when the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Salem Saeed Musabbeh Alshamsi paid Marwa a courtesy visit at the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, November 11.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, in a statement sent to Persecondnews on Wednesday quotes Alshamsi as saying: “I am here to appreciate your hard work and the great leadership you have provided the NDLEA. We have been following your achievements very closely, and I must say you have done very well and are still doing an excellent job.
“We follow all the good work that you have been doing, especially all the drugs you are seizing and blocking from coming to the UAE and we are so proud of your achievements and that is why we are here to deepen our cooperation with your agency in the area of fighting drug trafficking.
“The UAE looks forward to working more closely with Nigeria on drug enforcement matter.”
While extending an invitation to Marwa to visit his counterpart in UAE and the Dubai Police leadership for further engagements, the envoy expressed the readiness of his home government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NDLEA on areas of collaboration with the agency.
“We need to exchange information about drug dealers, and all of their activities. We are here to help and to support you, especially on this matter. It is very important that we have a very great communication between the UAE and Nigeria especially now that the relationship between United Arab Emirates and Nigeria has become one of the best.
“If there is any other thing I could do to support the great work you are doing here, please do not hesitate to ask me and I will be available and willing to do it in appreciation of your great leadership. Our mission is to be here for you, assist and support you”, the Ambassador said.
Marwa responded by thanking the envoy for his praise of both him and the NDLEA, and reciprocated by commending the UAE’s developmental progress.
He praised the Ambassador’s dedicated service, highlighting the substantial increase in trade and travel between the two nations over the past two years.
Marwa asserted that this growth aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda.
“I would like to acknowledge the strong diplomatic relations between our two countries that have continued to grow stronger every year.
“And Your Excellency has just told us now the latest in billions of dollars in non-oil trade and this is something that we welcome very much in Nigeria because the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda wants to achieve not just peace and stability, but prosperity for all Nigerians.
“The drug scourge is universal, both the trafficking of it and the abuse of it and there’s a need for collaboration between nations to achieve solutions on this. And in Nigeria, the NDLEA is the agency that is tasked with the control of illicit drugs in the country.”
The NDLEA boss noted that in the last four years, the agency had intercepted a total of 302.202 kilograms of assorted illicit substances going to the UAE either at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos or some courier companies in Lagos.
As the largest anti-narcotics agency in Africa, Marwa said NDLEA partners all leading drug law enforcement agencies across the world.
“We welcome the collaboration between NDLEA and our counterparts in UAE, we are also willing to honour the invitation to visit UAE for collaborative discussions and sign the MoU,” he assured the envoy.
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