Posted by Chinenye on Tue 13th Oct, 2026 - tori.ng
The NDLEA boss has shared a major concern about drug abuse in Nigeria, pointing to a deeper problem many people may be overlooking.
(Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa. Photo Credit: Premuim Times)
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) says drug use and mental illness often go hand in hand.
He warned that arresting drug users alone will not solve the problem.
"If we only arrest the symptoms, we will keep missing the cause," he said.
He spoke on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at the fifth edition of The Conversation Conference in Abuja.
The event was organised by the Intersect Consortium, led by U.K. based psychiatrist Dr Vincent Udenze.
It came just days after World Mental Health Day.
Marwa said many people the agency sees at its rehabilitation centres are carrying untreated pain, such as depression and trauma that nobody addressed.
He said mental health has for too long been treated as a private problem, hidden behind shame and silence.
He said hopelessness and poverty push people into harmful situations.
He pointed to three pilot communities in Ondo State, where families that once grew illegal crops now have legal ways to earn a living.
He called on the health, education, security, justice and social welfare sectors to work together.
He also asked participants to commit to funding what works, expanding proven community programmes, and putting women, children and vulnerable people first.