Marwa Backs Mandatory Drug Testing for NYSC Members, Prospective Couples
Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), Chairman and CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has defended the agency’s proposal for mandatory drug tests for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, intending couples, and other groups.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by NYSC Director General Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu and his team to the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja, Marwa clarified that the initiative is preventive, not punitive. Its aim, he said, is to discourage drug use and enable early intervention before addiction sets in.
Highlighting the scale of the problem, Marwa noted that one in seven Nigerians aged 15 to 64 uses drugs. “The drug scourge has continued to devastate our kids, families, and communities. There’s nowhere you go in the country that doesn’t have a drug abuse problem,” he stated.
Marwa emphasized that the NDLEA’s strategy involves both supply and demand reduction, incorporating education, counseling, and rehabilitation. He applauded the establishment of War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) clubs in NYSC orientation camps and championed the use of drug integrity tests as a critical tool for youth-focused drug prevention.
He also proposed posting corps members with relevant backgrounds—such as counseling, psychology, nursing, and psychiatry—to NDLEA treatment centers to support rehabilitation programs.
In response, NYSC DG Nafiu hailed the proposal as a “fantastic idea” and expressed readiness to collaborate with the NDLEA, including the deployment of qualified corps members to NDLEA offices nationwide. He also commended the agency’s progress and reaffirmed the NYSC’s commitment to the partnership.
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