The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) retired, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, has urged Nigerians to always remember that the country’s diversity is not a burden.
Marwa said this while delivering the keynote address at the public presentation of a book, Buni Boy, written by late legal luminary, Niyi Ayoola-Daniels, on Saturday in Abuja.
The NDLEA boss said that the country’s diversity is a gift and a trust that must be safeguarded by all.
Marwa said the event was significance for him due to the profound and compelling nature of the gathering.
“What moves me most is not only the book itself but also the life of its author and what that life represents.
“It speaks to the unity and strength woven through our diversity as Nigerians.
“To many people, the author’s narrative may seem distant, almost unreal, as if drawn from another world. Yet those of us who grew up in the 1960s know it as lived truth.
“The experience captured in the narrative mirrors the country we once walked through with unguarded hearts,”
Marwa said that the story stirred his memories and reminded him of a time when life was plain in its blessings and people showed more kindness in their daily dealings.
“This evening, I am not here to retell the story, for it stands strong on its own. Instead, I will reflect on its core theme, to remind Nigerians of this era that our diversity is not a burden but a gift and a trust we must safeguard.
“I have long been an advocate of unity in diversity and of the strength that rises from it. Hence, today’s occasion provides me an opportunity to further amplify the message.
“The Nigeria of my youth understood its own diversity, even in the troubled days of the 1960s when the civil war raged through this country,”he said.
Marwa recalled his teenage years at the Nigeria Military School, NMS Zaria, where the pupils came from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
According to him, It was never a school for northern boys alone.
“No, not a school for Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv or Idoma. It was a school for all ethnic groups in Nigeria.
“Whether you speak Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo, we regarded ourselves as kin. Our teachers reflected the same broad mix.
“For instance, from 1966 to 1970, the Commandant of the NMS was a Yoruba officer, Col. T. B. Ogundeko, of blessed memory. We didn’t see him as a Yoruba man. We saw a Nigerian, a man with whom we had a shared identity.
“Before attending NMS, however, I had my primary education across four cities: Zaria, Enugu, Abeokuta, and Lagos. This was the result of my father’s mobile life as a soldier.
“Living in different sociocultural settings taught me early that people of other tongues and traditions are still my own. That truth has stayed with me ever since,”
Marwa emphasised that the Nigerian Army, where he served for over 30 years, was built on a foundation of unity and the ideal of one Nigeria shaped its work.
He said that the experience only strengthened his conviction.
“As an officer, I served across the country and built bonds that cut through the artificial barriers created by our sociocultural differences.
“In the army, intermarriage and close fellowship pushed us to look past ethnic lines and stand together as one.
“On a personal note, my life has taught me that the diversity of this country enriches us. It sharpens our understanding of one another. It strengthens the fabric of our shared existence.
“It unites far more than it divides, whatever the voices of doubt may say today. In my private and professional life, I have always embraced the full breadth of Nigeria’s diversity.
“My friends come from every corner of the country. I have worked with people of every ethnicity. The people around me, even today, reflect the wide spectrum of our multiethnic nation.
“The chieftaincy titles I hold, more than 30 in number, show that same reach.
“Even my own family reflects our national mix. Wherever I stand in this country, whether among the Ogoni, or Bachama, among Igbo or Idoma, anywhere at all, I am at home,”he said.
The NDLEA boss recalled that as Military Administrator of Lagos State, the Yoruba people showed him great love and supported his administration despite their hostility to the government at the federal level then.
He added that the support he received from Lagos encouraged him to conduct a free and fair election that brought his successor to office.
“Even though the Head of State then, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, did not interfere in my conduct of the governorship election, the military hierarchy did.
“After seeing the then Senator Bola Tinubu’s strong campaign and popularity, the military hierarchy instructed me to prevent him from emerging governor because of his pro-democracy activism in NADECO against the military government then.
“But I chose to conduct a free and fair election that produced the most popular candidate as governor of Lagos State. The rest today is history,” he said.
The NDLEA Chairman said Nigeria may have its peculiar challenges because of how poorly its diversity had been managed over the years.
Marwa however, said that the difficulties could not justify any idea of tearing the nation apart.
He said that challenges should instead push everyone to repair the fault lines and pursue greater inclusion.
Speaking on the book, Marwa commended the widow of the author, Mrs Leticia Ayoola-Daniels for keeping her late husband’s memory alive.
He said “Barrister Niyi Ayoola-Daniels is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on. The Buni Yadi Foundation keeps his ideals alive.
“I must say that the real-life story told in the book resonates deeply with me.
“This is not only because I once served as the military governor of the old Borno, where Buni Yadi was then located, but also because I have met the family of the noble Alkali, the judge whose sense of duty anchors the book and shaped the author’s life.
“It is also because the transformation of an eighteen-year-old boy in the 1960s and the wisdom of a judge who held firmly to justice reflect the very heart of the Nigerian spirit.
