Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) said that the illicit drug landscape was a rapidly changing scene, and modern drug law enforcement had to keep up with the dynamics.
He gave the verdict at the training of journalists to scale up the fight against crimes of drug trafficking and wildlife in Nigeria, organized by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC), and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA).
Marwa said the media as a pivotal partner must be well informed on these changing trends.
Marwa at the training organized by the two agencies in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation, noted that: “There has been recent calls for training of journalists in various activities targeted at curbing abuse and trafficking of illicit substances.
“This also means is that such training should not only enhance the capacity of anti-drug agencies. It should also reform their systems and processes and instill in them the essence of best practices.”
He said that: “At NDLEA, we yearn for training and UNODC has been forthcoming, providing various capacity development trainings in the past three years.”
While reiterating the importance of journalists understanding key issues of public impact and reporting them in the proper context with regards to data interpretation, Country Representative of UNODC, Oliver Stolpe said data is essential to understanding the prevalence and frequency of science of issues of concern.
Stolpe while lamenting the impact of organized Wildlife Crime, said “I also would like to draw your attention to a much less cited study, which was on cannabis cultivation in Nigeria. It covered six states, it was published about two years ago, and it clearly established among many of the other things that there is a connection, a direct connection between deforestation and drug cultivation.
“We need to get better at reporting wildlife and forest crime. I’m really pleased to see that there is such a great interest in the topic.
“This is a topic that is very critical for Nigeria. It is a huge challenge much bigger than I think that we were aware of, even a few years ago when nobody was talking really about wildlife and forest crime.
Stolpe said UNODC’s principal collaboration with the media has been to ensure effective information through meaningful press releases, interviews and other media events.
He said: “We have always made sure that we are clearly distinguishing between crimes of drug trafficking, as opposed to the issue of drug use, which we consider primarily to be a health issue and that should be dealt with as such.
“Addiction is a health condition it is not a choice. And therefore, people that suffer addiction also can be in possession of drugs.
“They should be principally dealt with as as patients and should have access to the necessary treatment and counseling services that they require in order to overcome their respective drug use condition,” he said.
