FG, NDLEA Move to Replace Cannabis Farms with Food, Pharma Crops

FG, NDLEA Move to Replace Cannabis Farms with Food, Pharma Crops

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja

The Federal Government has pledged full support for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s (NDLEA) new initiative to provide cannabis farmers with legitimate alternatives and integrate rehabilitated drug users into agricultural programmes.

The commitment was made on Thursday in Abuja when the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, received the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), and his management team for talks on possible areas of collaboration.

Marwa said the meeting was part of efforts to align with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which identifies both food security and national security as priority areas.

“We cannot achieve national security without addressing drug control because the two are closely linked,” he said.

Citing NDLEA’s findings, Marwa revealed that 14.3 million Nigerians use drugs, with 10.6 million abusing cannabis, making it the most consumed illicit substance in the country.

“Cannabis is smoked, eaten in soup, or mixed with drinks like monkey tail. Arrests are made every week, yet people keep at it because the profits are huge.

“And so, we sat down and reflected and felt that there’s a more permanent solution to this, especially with the growers of cannabis,” he said.

To address the root cause, the NDLEA has launched an Alternative Development programme to persuade cannabis farmers to switch to food crops and high-value plants such as artemisia annua (sweet wormwood), which is used to produce malaria treatments and could fetch Nigeria up to $100 billion annually.

“This will give them at least a legitimate source of income. They will be able to sleep with their two eyes closed. Instead of always in fear of arrest by NDLEA, they will live respectable lives with their families and their communities.

“The fact that they agreed to come and meet me without the fear that they are being tricked so that we arrest them, was a positive sign. And we sat and had an engagement and I’ve also sent a delegation to their communities.

“The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is backing this project. But to convince farmers, we need incentives, seedlings, tractors, fertilizers, water, so they can have a secure and respectable livelihood,” Marwa explained.

The NDLEA chief also sought the ministry’s help to prevent relapse among rehabilitated drug users by engaging them in agriculture.

“We treat them and they recover, but if they return to the same environment without a source of income, the chances of relapse are high,” he warned.

In his response, Senator Kyari noted the direct link between drug abuse and criminality, warning that inaction could “breed criminals instead of the next generation of leaders.”

He assured the NDLEA of the ministry’s readiness to work together, saying the partnership fits into the President’s mandate of job creation, livelihood improvement, and youth and women inclusion in agriculture.

“I would like to express our commitment to this alternative development initiative. On your rehab centres, we will support treated persons with livelihood tools and opportunities to ensure they are gainfully engaged,” the minister said.

The meeting resolved to set up a joint technical committee to work out the operational framework for the collaboration.