Lagos Communities Face Renewed Call for Mental Health Investment as Marwa Warns of Drug Abuse Risks

By Sherif Salau

Communities across Lagos have been urged to prioritise mental health investment following a strong warning from the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), on the deep links between untreated mental illness and drug abuse.

Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja while chairing the fifth edition of The Conversation Conference, Marwa stressed that drug use and mental illness often reinforce each other. He cautioned that focusing solely on arrests and enforcement without addressing underlying psychological distress would continue to miss the root causes of the problem.

“For too long, we treated mental health as a private burden, hidden behind shame and silence,” Marwa said. “In my work at the NDLEA, I see the cost of that silence daily. Behind many cases of drug abuse is untreated pain: depression nobody noticed, trauma nobody addressed, a young person who found a substance before finding help. Drug use and mental illness feed each other. If we only arrest the symptoms, we will keep missing the cause.”

The NDLEA boss called for mental health to receive greater attention in national and state health budgets, more trained professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors and community health workers, and the integration of mental health services into primary healthcare so that help is accessible without long journeys. He also highlighted the value of community-led interventions and alternative livelihoods that reduce the socioeconomic pressures driving people towards harmful coping mechanisms.

Marwa noted that the agency has counselled, treated and rehabilitated more than 53,800 people through its facilities in the past five years. He pointed to successful pilot projects in communities that once depended on illicit cultivation, where support for legitimate income sources helped stabilise families and reduce vulnerability.

For densely populated urban centres such as Lagos, where drug abuse and mental health challenges are particularly acute among young people, the message carries direct relevance. Experts and community leaders have long argued that stronger investment in prevention, early intervention and accessible care is essential to protect lives, strengthen families and build safer neighbourhoods.

Marwa’s remarks, coming shortly after World Mental Health Day, reinforce the growing consensus that sustainable progress against drug abuse requires parallel and sustained commitment to mental well-being.