NDLEA Promotes 5,042 Officers

The chairman/chief executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (rtd), has approved the promotion of 5,042 personnel in an exercise that saw two senior officers elevated to the rank of deputy commander general of narcotics.

He also promoted 22 officers to assistant commander general of narcotics, and 66 personnel were promoted to commander of drugs.

The promotion, which followed weeks of examination and interviews conducted for qualified candidates, is part of an ongoing exercise to enhance human resource management, particularly on staff motivation and welfare, for efficiency and effectiveness in achieving organisational goals.

Speaking in a brief ceremony to decorate the promoted officers in Abuja yesterday, Marwa said prompt and timely promotion of all deserving and qualified officers remains top on his agenda.

According to him, “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 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 bottom line is a drug-free Nigeria?

“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 symbolises 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 said.

Also,15 commands and 70 personnel were rewarded for outstanding performances in the first half of 2024.