NDLEA, agric ministry to partner on legal crop alternatives for cannabis farmers

The ministry of agriculture and food security is partnering with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to provide alternatives for illicit drug producers.

Speaking during a visit by Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, to the ministry on Thursday, Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture, assured of his ministry’s readiness to support the agency’s ongoing drug control efforts, especially in creating alternatives for illicit drug producers.

Marwa told the minister that the visit was to seek collaboration between NDLEA and the ministry of agriculture as part of ongoing efforts to surmount the drug scourge confronting the country.

He said of the 14.3 million drug users in Nigeria, 10.6 million of them abuse cannabis, making the psychoactive substance the most commonly abused in the country.

“As you know, cannabis is not only smoked, it is also eaten. They make soup with it. They mix it with hot drinks to produce monkey tail. They take it in all kinds of forms. Every week, we make arrests,” Marwa said.

“And still, they keep at it, because there’s so much money in the business. And so, we sat down and reflected and felt that there’s a more permanent solution to this, especially with the growers of cannabis.

“So, we have decided to create another platform called alternative development, which seeks to persuade cannabis growers to change from growing cannabis, which is illicit, to something legitimate and licit. This will give them at least a legitimate source of income.

“They will be able to sleep with their two eyes closed. Instead of always fearing arrest by NDLEA, they will live respectable lives with their families and communities.

“The Alternative Development project has secured the buy-in of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and they are willing to encourage us. But for us to tell cannabis growers, please, don’t grow cannabis, grow something else, there has to be incentives for them to agree.

“I’ve had a meeting with some cannabis growers and discussed this idea with them. The fact that they agreed to come and meet me without the fear that they were being tricked so that we could arrest them was a positive sign. And we sat and had an engagement, and I’ve also sent a delegation to their communities.

“This is where we need the support of the ministry to give them some inputs, seedlings, tractors, water, fertilisers, chemicals, and others. So, we looked at the possibility of getting them to grow food crops, including the artemisia annua plant, which can fetch the country $100 billion annually.

“They call it sweet wormwood. The derivative is used for the treatment of malaria. We consulted with IITA, and they confirmed that they have grown samples nationwide. They have done some trials. And it seems to have a very positive outlook.

“With a $100 billion possible income to the country, if this is fully tapped, we’ll suggest that this is probably one of the areas of pharmaceutical crops that would be given to these cannabis growers to farm in addition to other licit crops.”

He said the other collaboration area is assimilating people from NDLEA rehab facilities into agricultural programmes and projects that will give them a livelihood and prevent relapse.

In his response, the minister agreed that there is a direct correlation between drug abuse and other forms of criminality, noting that if nothing is done urgently by all stakeholders, the country may be breeding criminals instead of the next generation of leaders.

“So, we should join hands, and this is the collaborative effort that President Tinubu has already mandated us to do in terms of not only achieving food security, employment, job creation, but improvement of livelihood, inclusivity of youth and women in agriculture, access to capital and credit, and so on,” he said.

“I would like to express our commitment to this alternative development initiative.

“Then, on the issue of your rehab centres, we will work with you so that those being treated can get some livelihood support regarding tools and other things.

“We’re willing to partner with you on the excellent work that you’re doing.”