• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
  • E-Book
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
  • E-Book
Home Features Breaking the 35-Year Jinx: NDLEA’s Milestone and the Power of Development Journalism
  • Features
  • National

Breaking the 35-Year Jinx: NDLEA’s Milestone and the Power of Development Journalism

By
Emmanuel Onwubiko
-
March 25, 2025

Breaking the 35-Year Jinx: NDLEA’s Milestone and the Power of Development Journalism 

“Whenever I was upset by something in the papers,” Jackie [Kennedy] once recalled, “[Jack] always told me to be more tolerant, like a horse flicking away flies in the summer.” Yet her disdain for the press never waned. To her, journalists were adversaries in a zero-sum game—a sentiment captured in her Latin quip to designer Oleg Cassini: “Mors tua vita mea est” (“Your death is my life”). This tension, as Sally Bedell Smith notes in Grace and Power, reflects a deeper institutional distrust between public officials and the media.

But Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.), Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), stands apart. Under his leadership, the NDLEA operates with uncommon transparency, its media team comprising top-tier professionals. This openness invites scrutiny—and today, it compels this writer to employ the lens of development journalism to spotlight a historic achievement the mainstream press has underreported: the breaking of a 35-year jinx in the NDLEA.

Development journalism prioritizes reporting on economic and social progress, critically analyzing policies while empowering citizens with actionable insights. It emerged in the 1980s as part of the Global South’s push for a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), challenging media inequities. For professionals like myself, it’s a creed: celebrate progress, hold power accountable, and amplify stories that shape national well-being.

Read Also:

  • After Katarko Clash, Troops Neutralize 10 Terrorists in Gamboru–Dikwa Operation
  • African Ambassador Demands Urgent Industrialization to End Poverty
  • Christian Genocide and the Dangers of Mischaracterisation By Femi Fani-Kayode

For the first time since its inception in 1989, the NDLEA now boasts a dedicated barracks. On February 18, 2025, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), commissioned the facility in Yola, Adamawa State, hailing it as a m”fortress of resilience” in Nigeria’s war against drugs.

The barracks—a sprawling 18-hectare complex—includes:

– 260 residential units (1–3 bedrooms)

– Modern offices, detention centers, and exhibit rooms

– Watchtowers, parade grounds, and perimeter fencing

Brig.-Gen. Marwa framed its urgency starkly: “For decades, insecure housing left our personnel vulnerable. Some were trailed home and murdered. This barracks is a shield.” The project aligns with President Tinubu’s *Renewed Hope Agenda*, proving that institutional growth hinges on prioritizing human capital.

The Yola barracks isn’t just brick and mortar; it’s a catalyst for efficiency. Research by *Gough Recruitment* identifies five key employee motivators:

1. Recognition

2. Work-life balance

3. Meaningful work

4. Career growth

5. Fair compensation

Marwa’s NDLEA ticks these boxes. Beyond housing, he’s commissioned a fitness center in Abuja (March 10, 2025) to boost mental and physical readiness, vowing to replicate such facilities nationwide. “Our people are our greatest asset,”he affirmed.

The NDLEA’s strides exemplify how dignity drives performance. As advocates in the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), we applaud this milestone—and challenge other agencies to emulate Marwa’s blueprint. When institutions invest in their workforce, national progress ceases to be rhetoric.

Emmanuel Onwubiko is Founder of HURIWA and former National Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria.

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • development journalism
  • NDLEA
Previous articleAfri-Caribbean Investment Summit Charts Path for Stronger Economic Ties, Shared Prosperity
Next articleNigeria Pledges Enhanced Medical Support for 2025 Hajj Pilgrims
Emmanuel Onwubiko
Emmanuel Onwubiko

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

African Ambassador Demands Urgent Industrialization to End Poverty

Christian Association of Nigeria CAN

Christian Genocide and the Dangers of Mischaracterisation By Femi Fani-Kayode

NUC Approves 13 New Degree Programmes for Nigerian Universities

A Group of Terrorists/Bandits

On Kwara’s Silent Crisis By Aromaradu S. Salihu

Farmers

Beyond the Rain: Nigerian Farmers Reimagine Survival in a Climate of Change” By Shakirudeen Abdulazeez

Unlocking Nigeria’s Fiscal Future Through Tax Reform By Abdullateef M Awal

Nigerian Youths

Empowering Nigerian Youth in Building a Climate-Resilient Future By Mustapha Abdulganiyu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Nigeria’s Painful Path from Policy to Prosperity By Shukurat T. Ibrahim

Communication is National Security, Not Just Media Work – NIPR President

Tinubu’s Sudden Military Overhaul Rekindles Coup Fears, Public Reactions Flood Twitter

Anambra Guber Poll: INEC Deploys AI Virtual Assistant to Train Staff

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

‘Tell Nigerians the Truth’: ADC Challenges Tinubu on Military Shake-Up

Recent Posts

  • After Katarko Clash, Troops Neutralize 10 Terrorists in Gamboru–Dikwa Operation
  • African Ambassador Demands Urgent Industrialization to End Poverty
  • Christian Genocide and the Dangers of Mischaracterisation By Femi Fani-Kayode
  • PRNigeria Inducts New Fellows in Ilorin After Staff Kidnapping Ordeal
  • NUC Approves 13 New Degree Programmes for Nigerian Universities
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
After Katarko Clash, Troops Neutralize 10 Terrorists in Gamboru–Dikwa OperationAfrican Ambassador Demands Urgent Industrialization to End PovertyChristian Genocide and the Dangers of Mischaracterisation By Femi Fani-KayodePRNigeria Inducts New Fellows in Ilorin After Staff Kidnapping OrdealNUC Approves 13 New Degree Programmes for Nigerian UniversitiesOn Kwara’s Silent Crisis By Aromaradu S. SalihuBeyond the Rain: Nigerian Farmers Reimagine Survival in a Climate of Change" By Shakirudeen AbdulazeezUnlocking Nigeria’s Fiscal Future Through Tax Reform By Abdullateef M AwalEmpowering Nigerian Youth in Building a Climate-Resilient Future By Mustapha AbdulganiyuNigeria’s Painful Path from Policy to Prosperity By Shukurat T. IbrahimMilitary Repels ISWAP Fighters in Gamboru NgalaFCT Police Clamp Down on Criminal Hideouts, Arrest 62 SuspectsKano Police Arrest 2 Suspected Bandits, Move to Resolve Herders-Farmers Clash in MakodaCommunication is National Security, Not Just Media Work – NIPR PresidentCustoms Hands Over N562 Million Worth of Seized Drugs to NDLEA, Arrests Suspect in Lagos
X whatsapp