1 Director, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General. Muhammed Marwa, has solicited the support of ex-boys from the Nigerian Military School (NMS) to eradicate illicit drugs in Nigeria.
two Marwa made the call at the NMS 96 Ex-Boys Foundation Dinner in commemoration of their 20-year reunion on Sunday in Abuja.
3 He said that 15 million Nigerians were involved in illicit drug use in Nigeria, adding that there was a scourge of drugs in every community in Nigeria.
4 According to him, it does not discriminate whether you are Yoruba or Fulani or Igbo or Tiv, whether you are Muslim or Christian, whether you are male or female.
5 “The scourge of drugs is hitting 15 million Nigerians hard.
6 It is not only destroying our families and our communities, it is also as we know, behind the criminality, the insurgency, the banditry and the kidnappings, everyone uses drugs to get into it.
7 “So we need all the Nigerians and the ex-NMS guys to be up front because since I’m there as president, all of you guys are there and you have to take the fight personally.
8 “And the best form of effort that I would expect from you is to fight the demand for drugs and confront the consumers because the consumers are the markets.
9 “As parents, I would like you to take your rightful place and raise our children properly.
10 “In all of your communities, your businesses, your organizations wherever you work, set up a little committee called War Against Drug Abuse (AMA) and make the most of your pastors, imams, bishops, clerics, traditional institutions, NGOs, village committees, etc., to get this drug abuse issue out of Nigeria,” he said.
eleven Recalling her experience at NMS in 1966, Marwa said that NMS was and had remained an institution promoting national unity where tribalism was never an issue.
12 He said that even though the school’s academic staff during his time at NMS were about 90 percent Yoruba by extraction, the common goal was discipline and patriotism.
13 He said that in the NMS they were taught the ethic of leadership, patriotism and national pride and there was no tribalism but hard work.
14 The National President of the NMS Ex-Boys Association, Mr. Femi Ikuponiyisaid alumni had begun efforts to participate in the WADA exercise of the NDLEA.
fifteen Ikuponiyi said that they had developed a context in which they planned to make a presentation about the agency.
sixteen According to him, the former boys have also used the state chapters to form associations due to their presence in most federal institutions to be coordinated by the state chapters.
17 “So we assure you that we are in this fight together until the end and that is the spirit,” he said.
18 NMS 96 ExBoys President Akin Philips said the purpose of NMS was to foster the unity of Nigeria, where candidates were selected from all states in the federation on merit to receive military and academic training.
19 Philips said that the 20th anniversary of NMS 96 after passing out in 2002, was to continue fostering the brotherhood that had existed between them and the unity of Nigeria.
twenty He said the meeting had allowed them to reach out to the families of their colleagues who had passed away and remember them, as well as give back to society through humanitarian activities.
twenty-one According to him, some of his colleagues have died while serving the country in the cause of the ongoing war against the insurgency and other security challenges.
22 “So what we did was visit their families, their children and wives and we delivered some packages to them.
23 “Most of them paid the ultimate price by sacrificing their lives while defending the nation.
24 “We also visit an orphanage as part of our humanitarian activities,” he said.
25 News sourceCredit: YAYA
