Approval has been given for the promotion of 3,506 officers and men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) by the Chairman/Chief Executive of the agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd). The promotion of the officers came after several years of stagnation on a rank. They are now to move to their next senior rank after the approval by Marwa yesterday.

Many officers and men of the agency have stayed rooted on a particular rank for many years in what seems like a stop in promotion, a jinx now broken by the agency chief executive.

A statement issued by the spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said the approval followed a report by the harmonisation committee set up by Marwa soon after assuming leadership of the agency in January to address the issues of low morale and stagnation in the career path of personnel.

He said after due consideration of the recommendations by the committee, the NDLEA chief executive approved the immediate promotion of 2,910 officers between the rank of Narcotic Assistant I and Superintendent of Narcotics while 596 others between Chief Superintendent of Narcotics and Assistant Commander-General of Narcotics were recommended to the board of the agency for elevation to their next ranks, a recommendation that was approved by the board on June 16, 2021.

A breakdown of the list of promoted officers and men shows that eight Assistant Commanders-General of Narcotics (ACGN) were elevated to the rank of Deputy Commander-General of Narcotics (DCGN); 20 Commanders of Narcotics (CN) to Assistant Commander General of Narcotics; 54 Deputy Commanders of Narcotics to Commander of Narcotics; 14 Assistant Commanders of Narcotics to Commander of Narcotics; 150 Assistant Commanders of Narcotics to Commander of Narcotics; and 350 Chief Superintendents of Narcotics to Assistant Commander of Narcotics.

A total of 630 Superintendents of Narcotics were also moved to the next rank as Chief Superintendent of Narcotics; Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics to Superintendent of Narcotics- 41; Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics I to Superintendent of Narcotics -481; Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics I to Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics -157; Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics II to Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics I -12; Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics II to Deputy Superintendent of Narcotics -187; Chief Narcotic Agent to Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics I -119; Chief Narcotic Agent to Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics II -47; Senior Narcotic Agent to Chief Narcotic Agent-1,006; Narcotic Agent to Chief Narcotic Agent -4; Narcotic Agent to Senior Narcotic Agent -68; Narcotic Assistant I to Senior Narcotic Assistant -1 and Narcotic Assistant I to Narcotic Agent-78.

Marwa, while charging the promoted officers and men to see their elevation as a call to give their best in the task to rid the country of illicit drug trafficking and abuse, said his commitment to push the agency to the frontline in efficiency is becoming a reality due to the

unquantifiable support of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He added:

To whom much is given, much is expected! I will therefore urge all of our officers and men who have been promoted to double their efforts as a mark of their commitment and appreciation to President Buhari, whose political will, power and mandate to bring an end to the scourge of illicit drug abuse and trafficking in the country we are implementing in the agency.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.