The Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Engineer Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, has congratulated the Executive Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired General Mohammed Buba Marwa, on his second-term appointment in office, describing him as “a trail blazer.”
In a congratulatory message issued through his Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye, Oba Owoade said retired Marwa is, by “all intents and purposes, a man with strong sense of conscientiousness, resulting in a scrupulous, punctual, reliable, dependable, purposeful, organized, strong-willed and highly determined character.”
“The NDLEA Executive Chairman, as the Aare Atunluse of Yorubaland, is super-organized, a great planner and responsible. He works hard in the face of challenges and can control his impulse.
He is superb at setting goals and working towards them, as well as persisting amid setbacks,” he stated.
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“In a world where headlines are often dominated by people who make the wrong choices, people who make the right ones can seem to be rare. The NDLEA Chairman always feels good to live and work with integrity. This made him known for his highly valued trait, as his life and career keep flourishing,” the Titan of Yorubaland pointed out.
Oba Owoade recalled that when Gen. Marwa was appointed Military Governor of old Borno State (present Borno and Yobe States) from June 1990 to 1992, his administration had a far-reaching impact on the populace in diverse ways, including health care delivery, education and agriculture.
“The appointment of Gen. Marwa as the administrator of Borno State coincided with the time Idriss Deby, erstwhile rebel, seized power from President Hisen Habre, thereby dislodging members of the Chadian Army, some of whom went rogue and carried out raids across the border into Borno State.
The marauders’ pillaging of towns, villages and communities was not unlike Boko Haram’s.”
“In August 1996, he was appointed Military Administrator of Lagos State. His three-year tenure in the state was accompanied by strategic programmes,” he said.
“His exemplary leadership earned him ‘Nigeria’s Man of the Year 1997’ by Newswatch, Nigeria’s oldest and influential weekly magazine.
“During his administration as Governor of Lagos State, he implemented programmes such as Operation 250 Roads, which greatly improved motoring conditions. He revamped public health institutions and ensured that free malaria treatment was available to all. His administration upgraded infrastructure in poor neighborhoods.
“General Marwa became well respected in Lagos because of Operation Sweep, a joint police and military venture that helped reduce Lagos’ notorious crime rate.
“In July 1998, Marwa opened a new asphalt plant in Lagos, the largest in Nigeria.
“In recognition of his landmark achievements in Nigeria at large, Gen. Buba Marwa was honoured by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2003 with a national honour as Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), having earlier received the Distinguished Service Star Honour from the Nigeria Armed Forces in 1998,” Oba Owoade recalled.
Gen. Marwa is a Patron of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ, Oyo State Council) and Grand Patron, All Africa Students’ Union (AASU).
In January 2021, Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa was appointed by the late President Muhammadu Buhari as the Executive Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), having served as Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) between 2018 and 2020.
Between January and July 2021, within six months of assumption into office, the NDLEA under Buba Marwa intercepted and destroyed illicit drugs worth over ₦60 billion.
The Alaafin therefore prayed to Almighty God to grant long life, good health and prosperity to the charismatic Executive Chairman of the NDLEA in the arduous task ahead of him.
