By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Retd) has buttressed the need for a pre-marital drug test as a key factor to a stable home.
Marwa spoke at a conference organized by an NGO, Coal to Diamond Support Network for young adults on Saturday 4th September 2021 in Abuja, where his wife, Hajia Munirat Marwa, who is the chief host of the event also emphasized the need for a drug test before marriage. She warned that drugs are destroying many marriages, families, and communities.
While also warning on the dire consequences of drug abuse, Gen. Marwa who was represented at the conference by Shehu Dankolo, a Principal Staff Officer on Drug Demand Reduction in NDLEA, said “substance use has been known not only to destroy marriages but equally lead to health problems, morbidity, injuries, violence, and death. Most often, the physical, psychological, and social consequences of drug use are very obvious and disturbing.”
According to him, “the mental, physical and spiritual quality of life of individuals has a definite impact on a society’s future” He said if would be coupled choose to undergo HIV and genotype tests before marriage without any law compelling them, they should equally consider drug test as critical to their wellbeing and stability of their home.
In her remarks, Hajia Munirat Marwa urged youths preparing for weddings to take a drug test as part of their preparations, adding that there is a difference between wedding and marriage.
In her words, “the wedding as we all know it is a short time event while marriage is intended for a lifetime. As such, the conference has come at the right time when couples are putting more importance and emphasis on the wedding festivities rather than the marriage itself.
“It is therefore important we pay attention to preparing for the marriage and one of such ways is through pre-marital counseling and drug test. This prepares the couples very well and has the ability to reduce domestic violence, divorce as well as increase happiness and longevity in marriages”.
Other notable speakers at the conference include wife of former Vice President Namadi Sambo, Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo, President of the Group, Bilkisu Mohammed, and the keynote speaker, Alhaji Sa’id Takuma, who all emphasized the need for proper counseling for would-be couples to safeguard their marriages and future. NNL.
