Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has expressed his desire to leverage the agricultural reform programmes of Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago in Niger State and to partner with the state government to facilitate sustainable alternative livelihoods for youths and women groups in the state.
The partnership programme, according to him, will specifically focus on the deviant youth groups, including those in the custody of the NDLEA.
This partnership interest of Gen. Marwa with Governor Bago was disclosed by Dr. Jonah Kolo, who was recently appointed as the National Coordinator of Alternative Development Projects in Nigeria, at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja.
He spoke when he paid a visit to the Hon. Speaker, Niger State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Barr. Abdulmalik Sarkin Daji, to inform him on the activities of the agency and particularly on the focus of the Alternative Development Project of the NDLEA.
He stated that Gen. Marwa was passionate about providing legitimate alternative sources of livelihoods for the deviant youth groups as a drug control strategy, hence his decision to create an Alternative Development Unit in the agency.
He said that one of the key functions of the unit in the NDLEA was "to initiate and/or identify and leverage on the children, youth, and women empowerment programmes at the community, state, and federal levels and collaborate with the sponsors and implementers of such programmes in order to incorporate illicit narcotics and related crime preventive empowerment programmes’’.
The Hon. Speaker therefore pledged his support for the partnership project and promised to take up the partnership interest with the Governor of Niger State, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago.
Dr. Jonah Kolo also paid an alternative development awareness visit to the Niger State Commissioner of Agriculture, Hon. Musa Salihu Bawa Bosso, where the prospects of the alternative development and sustainable livelihood project in Niger State and, by extension, in Nigeria were extensively discussed.
He said the Alternative Development (AD) approach was also a palliative towards social security and the correctional justice system as an option to punishment and was designed to provide diverse sustainable alternative sources of livelihoods for the young population, including women groups, and for illicit drug growers, traffickers, users, and other deviants.
Dr. Kolo further stated that Gen. Marwa will pay an Alternative Development Advocacy visit to Governor Bago in no distant time, during which he said the modalities for the partnership will be fully discussed.
In attendance during the meeting with the Hon. Commissioner were Dr. Mathew Ahmed, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Livestock; Mallam Alhassan Umar, Director, Planning, Research, and Statistics; and Mallam Adamu Garba Maikusuwa, Director, Agric Services and Linkages.
Others included Engr. Musa Danladi, Director, Engineering Services. Mr. Bala King, the Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of Administration from the NDLEA National Headquarters in Abuja, was also in the meeting.
Niger State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that about 170 people have been killed in Niger State through road accidents during the first and second quarters of 2023.
The Sector Commander of the Corps, Kumar Tsukwam, stated this during the flag-off of the 2023 Ember Months campaign held at Mobil Motor Park Minna.
Mr. Tsukwam said that during the period under review, about 245 road traffic crashes (RTCs) were recorded, of which 70 were fatal cases. He added that the data revealed that speeding was the major cause of traffic crashes in the state.
Speaking on the comparison of accident rates between 2022 and 2023, the sector commander said that the incidents of road crashes and deaths have drastically reduced as of this year compared to last year.
According to him, about 205 lives were lost in 2022, while 260 cases of RTC were recorded with 85 fatalities.
Commander Kumar Tsukwam revealed that the comparison of the first and second quarters of 2022 and 2023 shows that RTC has reduced by three percent and fatalities are about 10 percent, while those killed are 9.3 percent in Niger State.
He said the reduction in both road traffic crashes and fatalities during the year under review was a result of measures put in place following aggressive sensitization undertaken by his leadership among motorists in the state through the media, as well as the engagement of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state amongst other stakeholders.
The sector commander, FRSC, reaffirmed its commitment to partner with the leadership of all the Drivers Union and other relevant authorities, as well as sister security agencies, in their collective determination to tackle the challenges of road traffic crashes in the state through intelligence gathering and information gathering amongst themselves while on operations. He, however, warned that his command will not spare anyone who violates road traffic regulations, especially during the festive season.
He then commended Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago for his administration's continued desire to invest massively in the construction of new roads and the provision of road infrastructure across the state with a view to addressing the menace of road traffic crashes in the state.
He also appreciated the effort of the Secretary to the Niger State Government, SSG, for his relentless support of the command.
The theme of this year's Ember Month campaign was "Speed Thrills but Kills, Drive Responsibly, and Avoid Overloading,", which he said focuses on the need to avoid speeding and overloading.
