JUST

JUST IN: NDLEA promotes 5,042 officers, Marwa presents 70 personnel, others with special awards 

By Adedayo Osho 

Brigadier General Mohamed Nuba Marwa, Chairman/chief executive officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has approved the promotion of a total of 5,042 personnel of the Agency.

Two senior officers were elevated to the rank of Deputy Commander General of Narcotics (DCGN); 22 as Assistant Commander General of Narcotics (ACGN) and 66 as Commander of Narcotics (CN).

The promotion is a product of weeks of examination and intense interviews conducted for qualified candidates ae part of the Agency's ongoing exercise to enhance human resource management, particularly on staff motivation and welfare, for efficiency and effectiveness in the achievement of organisational goals.

Addressing guests and officers present in Abuja on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, to decorate some of the promoted officers with their new ranks and reward 15 commands and 70 personnel for outstanding performances in the first half of 2024, the NDLEA boss said prompt and timely promotion of all deserving and qualified officers remains a top priority of his leadership agenda.

Marwa said "I am pleased to say that we continue to wax stronger on this journey we embarked on three and a half years ago when we decided to turn around the fortunes of this agency, by improving our performance as a precursor to reversing the perilous drug use situation in our dear country, Nigeria.

"On this occasion of the 8th edition of the commands’ awards and commendations ceremony, we have every reason to be thankful because our performance continuously justifies our conviction in Offensive Action, WADA and other reforms that we undertook. For our modest efforts, we have received plaudits at home and abroad. What that means is that we have to do more. The reward for work well done is more work, and in our case, we cannot rest on our oars until all the objectives of our mandate are fully achieved. May I remind us that the bottomline is a drug-free Nigeria."

The anti-drugs boss assured that "On our part as management, we are trying to keep the motivation going, by ensuring that we provide everything necessary to make this work safe, secure and conducive for everyone working in this Agency. Our new barracks in Adamawa, Abuja and Lagos are almost complete and will be commissioned soon. The recent promotion of 5, 053 officers speaks volumes about our dedication to prompt and timely promotion of officers. It is symbolic of our effort to break the jinx of stagnation, which was once an albatross for our personnel.

"To further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations, we are creating five strategic commands in Lagos, FCT, MMIA, Apapa and Tincan. Also in this regard, we’ll be deploying body cameras for the use of our officers on strategic operations for the purpose of ensuring their safety and the integrity of such operations."

He charged officers to remain upright in the discharge of their duties. "Let me also seize this occasion to pass some messages to the NDLEA personnel. We have come a long way. In three and a half years, we have taken down as many as 50 identifiable drug cartels, some of them important spokes in the wheel of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine distribution in the country and the global trafficking network. We have seized a huge quantity of illicit drugs and we have convicted record numbers of drug offenders," Marwa said.

He applauded the officers, saying "We have achieved many milestones without soiling our integrity and I expect us to continue on that course. Our core values of integrity, hardwork and transparency, among others, must be respected at all times. We need to continue to justify the trust reposed in us by society, and our government, as well as our international partners and governments supporting us across the globe. We have raised the standard and it must not be lowered at any cost or by any means.

"That is to say, we will not take kindly to any news of infractions, indiscipline or corruption from the field or any command. The least we demand of any officer of this proud agency is to be upright and committed to our goals, while management continues to work on our welfare. The strides of the past three years have put behind us the tribulations of the previous 30 years. We owe the agency allegiance to maintain its integrity. We owe the public a duty to not betray the trust reposed in us. We owe our government, and our partners and stakeholders supporting us a duty to get the job done.

"Therefore, we must not fail in giving the required sacrifice, patriotism, commitment, honesty, hard work, and all the virtues that go along with this important job and service to the nation and mankind. You have my assurances and those of the management of NDLEA that we shall not relent in the pursuit to create the best paradigm of work, welfare and reward for you."

A closed-door meeting was convened by the NDLEA boss between the commanders, directors and other ranking officers at the end of the ceremony.

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