(The Sun Nigeria, Mohammed Marwa)
The NDLEA has sounded a loud alarm: Nigerian campuses are becoming the new battleground for drug cartels. According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, the growing prevalence of substance addiction among young Nigerians poses a serious risk to national growth, campus safety, and public health.
This was said on Tuesday by retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, during a drug awareness and sensitization lecture at the University of Abuja, which is now Yakubu Gowon University in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the lecture, titled “High Today, Low Tomorrow: The Real Cost of Drug Abuse on Campus,” formed part of activities for the institution’s combined 29th and 30th convocation ceremonies scheduled for April 17 and 18, 2026.
Marwa said the pursuit of academic performance, social acceptance and escape from stress had driven many students into abusing drugs in the form of pills, smoked substances and liquid mixtures.
He claims that many young people, unaware that they are endangering their future, look for short-term respite from social and academic stress.
He pointed out that narcotics including synthetic pharmaceuticals, cannabis, codeine-based syrups, and tramadol were becoming more common in higher education.
According to Marwa, Nigeria’s sizable youth population has raised worries about drug misuse there. He referenced results from the 2018 National Drug Use Survey, which was carried out by the Federal Government, the European Union, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
He said that the survey revealed that Nigeria had a drug usage prevalence rate of 14.4%, which is almost three times higher than the 5.6% global average.
“The survey’s results validated long-held assumptions, next the report’s publication in 2018, a number of incidents over the next two years added to the overall image of the scope and severity of drug abuse among young Nigerians.
He stated, “The extent of substance abuse among adolescents and young adults was grossly underestimated in retrospect.” The head of NDLEA emphasized that later findings have verified that the extent of drug usage, especially among young people between the ages of 25 and 39, had long been underestimated.
He added that initiation into drug use now occurs as early as age 19, and in some cases, below 15 years.
Marwa disclosed that NDLEA records showed that more than 60 per cent of the 77,859 drug offenders arrested in the last five years were young persons.
He added that the majority of the over 48,000 individuals treated in rehabilitation facilities also fell within the youth demographic.
“The rising trend is driven partly by a subculture that glamorises drug use, with expressions such as ‘getting high’ increasingly normalised among young people and widely promoted on social media.
“Cannabis remains the most widely abused drug in Nigeria, accounting for over 70 per cent of the 14.8 million kilogrammes of illicit substances seized between 2021 and 2025.
He said, “The country is estimated to have about 10.6 million cannabis users, most of them youths.” Marwa also highlighted emerging patterns of abuse, including cannabis-infused foods and drinks, as well as methamphetamine use, locally known as “mkpurumiri,” particularly in the South-East.
He said the agency had dismantled more than 10 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in recent years.
“You can recall that Nigeria previously grappled with an opioid crisis between 2016 and 2019, marked by widespread misuse of codeine syrup and tramadol, often mixed into locally made cocktails consumed by students.
“Reports also revealed to a growing trend of drug-laced edibles, such as cookies and pastries, distributed through social media networks by educated young individuals,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman described university campuses as a critical battleground, citing rising cases of drug trafficking, student arrests and online distribution networks.
He cautioned that the repercussions of drug misuse include academic decline, mental health disorders, broken relationships, exposure to crime and, in extreme cases, death. According to him, the effects extend beyond individuals to families, institutions and society through reduced productivity and increasing criminal activity.
Marwa called for coordinated interventions involving preventive education, stronger law enforcement and sustained community engagement to curb the menace.
Previously, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Hakeem Fawehinmi, said drug abuse had become a major societal challenge largely affecting young people. Fawehinmi noted that drug trafficking and abuse had evolved into a multi-billion-dollar global enterprise sustained by rising demand and easy access to various substances.
He said, “Nowadays, there are numerous types of drugs easily obtainable in various places, especially by youths, which leaves them euphoric one day and crashing the next.” He expressed optimism that the lecture would deepen awareness of the dangers of drug abuse and encourage students to make responsible choices.
The peak of the occasion was the awarding of a plaque to Marwa by the university’s Governing Council Chairman, former Senator Olanrewaju Tejuoso.
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