The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has introduced a sustainable Alternative Development initiative designed to convince illicit cannabis farmers to abandon drug cultivation and transition into legitimate agricultural crop production across affected communities nationwide.
Speaking during an advocacy visit to the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, and Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo in Benin City, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retired), declared that punitive enforcement measures alone cannot eradicate illicit crop farming without providing viable socio-economic alternatives for rural agrarian populations.
Marwa explained that under the strategic framework, the anti-narcotics agency is collaborating with international partners, state governments, and traditional institutions to incentivize farmers with high-yield food crop seeds—such as cassava, yam, and corn—alongside technical farm inputs to transform vast illicit cannabis plantations into food production hubs.
The NDLEA chief emphasized that traditional rulers remain indispensable stakeholders in winning the domestic war on drugs, urging royal fathers across the country to leverage their grassroots authority to dissuade community members from leasing ancestral lands for illicit drug farming.
Marwa warned that widespread substance abuse continues to fuel violent crime, banditry, and social instability, necessitating a multi-pronged counter-narcotics strategy that targets both supply chains and rural poverty drivers.
Responding to the anti-drug leadership, the Oba of Benin pledged the full support of the traditional council to suppress drug trafficking and encourage youth participation in legal commercial farming.
Simultaneously, Governor Okpebholo reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to partnering with federal security agencies to stamp out illicit substance abuse, noting that crime prevention strategies must address the root causes of drug proliferation across Edo State.
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