Yemi Adedeji, Abuja
The House Committee on Narcotics on Monday disagreed with the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Muhammad Abdallah, over the declassification of Cannabis sativa.
However, the committee insisted that the urgent need to seek an alternative source of revenue for the country considering the dwindling revenue from oil, as the mainstay of the country’s economy makes cannabis declassification imperative.
But NDLEA Chairman while appearing before the committee to defend his agency’s budget, stated categorically that neither the agency nor himself was an advocate of Cannabis declassification, saying there was no scientific evidence that cannabis has medical benefits
According to him, I am an implementor of the rules and laws you (National Assembly) made. The law as it is now is that cannabis is not allowed in Nigeria. I am not, neither is the agency an advocate for cannabis sativa declassification.
But a member of the committee, Hon. Marian Onuoha, asked the chairman what the agency was doing to curb the activities of those dealing on illegal trade and to ensure perpetrators are brought to book.
The NDLEA Chairman said the agency has not stopped or relented, stressing that in Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo states, the agency normally destroy or made the seizure.
Abdallah added: “But let me just say, it is not true that nations are falling over each other to declassify cannabis. If you want you can count the number of countries, they are under ten, but we have more than 190 countries in this world.
It is part of the convention in 1961 that says cannabis should be so classified and I say again there is no scientific evidence anywhere that cannabis Sativa has gotten any medicinal value.
Onuoha, however, countered the NDLEA boss when she enumerated some medicinal value of cannabis which she said include; “reduces pain, help with appetite; the CBD oil is being used by patients undergoing chemotherapy, lately, there is a study for the cure of Covid-19. In the environment, the cannabis Sativa plant has an element of fighting remediation problem which can be used to decontaminate soil.”
She stated: “We are not if talking about the benefits right now, we are looking at the economic value that it portends. Except we are being ignorant of what is happening, we all know these are abounds. Let not even go into all of these, but what I’m saying is that we should intensify effort so that those that are illegally trading to know it is still not legalised
“While we as parliament, we have a bill before us now, Cannabis Control Bill – which we are using to or seeking for it to declassify…where NDLEA will now be empowered and charged with the responsibility of ensuring that through this avenue you generate more income.
“As a matter of fact, it is not just about the government making adequate budgetary provision, you are the next oil, you are sitting on gold. If this Act is passed into law, then you will become the agency that will implement the cultivation, the processing, the handling, the use and the trading
“You would have an organisation for farmland for farmers group; you would have sanctions and licences for the growers, you would have a penalty for offenders, you will have groups that will be charged with going to inspect the farms to ensure that the licence been gotten is used for the purpose
“It will create a fiscal opportunity to increase our revenue base from your agency. Believe it or not, the oil price is going down and government all over the world are seeking for alternative revenue generation.”
But, Abdallah insisted that he heads a regulating agency and not a lawmaking agency, stressing that until the law says otherwise, he would continue to enforce the law.
He stated: “I head a regulations agency, I’m not a law-making agency, you make the law and we implement the laws that have been made. Until the National Assembly has said otherwise on cannabis Sativa, I will implement the laws and regulations that are there into-to
“Secondly, the world over, the body tasked with the health of the earth is the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is no such certification from WHO. I still stand by what have said. No conclusive scientific evidence that cannabis has all these benefits.”
It was at the point that the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Francis Agbo asked the NDLEA Chairman if he was aware of the vote by the United Nations on the declassification of cannabis in October before it was postponed.
The NDLEA boss explained that he was part of those that voted on the issue and because of Nigeria’s stand on the issue he was asked to vote against it declassification which he did.
On the recruitment of 5,000 cadets, Abdallah explained that the exercise was stalled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but added that the process was being fast-track now, adding that by January 2021, the first batch of the cadet would be in Jos.