NDLEA tells exporters: one drug-tainted shipment can cost your freedom
- NDLEA chairman Buba Marwa warned exporters that drug-contaminated consignments can lead to jail and lost markets.
- He spoke at an Aspire Women Forum masterclass on export readiness held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
- Vice-President Kashim Shettima said women and young people must be central to building a $1tn economy.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has a blunt message for Nigerians hoping to sell goods abroad: check what is inside your container, or risk prison.
NDLEA chairman Brig Gen Buba Marwa (retd.) gave the warning on Wednesday in Abuja at a masterclass on export readiness organised by the Aspire Women Forum. The event held at the Presidential Villa and was aimed at women and young entrepreneurs.
Marwa said a single consignment laced with illicit drugs can cost an exporter their freedom, stain the family name and shut the door on foreign buyers that Nigerian businesses spent years courting. He asked participants to confirm who they are dealing with and what they are sending before goods leave the country.
Know exactly what you are shipping. Verify your partners and your transactions. Never carry a package you did not pack, and never let your goods be used for trafficking.
His advice was practical: know your partners, keep proper records and refuse to move parcels you did not pack yourself. Export success, he said, rests on reliable products, good standards, correct paperwork and dependable service.
Drugs and business ambitions
Marwa also used the platform to speak against substance abuse, saying drug use and trafficking can destroy the very dreams entrepreneurship is meant to build. Pressure, disappointment, curiosity or the wish to belong should not push anyone into drugs, he said.
Drugs solve no business problem and end no hardship; they only multiply them.
He said people struggling with drug dependence should seek help without shame. The NDLEA runs a 24-hour toll-free line, 080010203040, where trained professionals including clinical psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists take calls in English, Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Parents and community leaders, he added, should point people towards treatment rather than turn their backs on them.
The agency said it is ready to work with the Aspire Women Forum through its War Against Drug Abuse advocacy campaign.
Why it matters to small businesses
Vice-President Kashim Shettima, represented by Inna Binta Audu, Special Assistant to the President on Humanitarian Affairs and Development Partners, said the government's plan to build a $1tn economy cannot be done by government alone. It needs businesses that can start, grow and compete, he said.
Shettima said women and young people must sit at the centre of that push, and that inclusion must go beyond training halls and empowerment announcements to real access to markets, finance and institutions.
Aspire Women Forum founder Zainab Marwa said many Nigerians work long hours making goods or offering services but still fail to hold on to profit. Poor record-keeping, unregistered businesses, unsuitable loans, weak packaging and few links to buyers are among the reasons, she said.
The masterclass was built to close those gaps and to show entrepreneurs how to tap government support. Young men were included alongside women, she said, because unstable income affects whole households. The forum plans to keep supporting participants through mentoring and referrals after the event.
What happens next: The NDLEA says its helpline stays open round the clock for anyone who needs help with drug dependence, and the agency plans to keep working with the forum on drug-abuse awareness.
