National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Chairman Mohammed Buba Marwa has called for stronger protection of the girl child against the systemic vulnerabilities that push women and youth toward drug abuse and exploitation, arguing that safeguarding daughters ultimately safeguards the nation itself.
Marwa made the appeal in Kaduna at the public presentation of In the Shadow of the Neem Tree, a book written by his daughter Mariam Marwa Abdu, arguing that by protecting the girl child, we protect the family, and by protecting the family, we secure the nation. He said efforts to protect vulnerable members of society cannot be left to government and NGOs alone, but must draw in every stakeholder, including traditional institutions, saying that as NDLEA chairman he sees firsthand every day how poverty, abuse and lack of education drive women and youth toward drug abuse and exploitation. Advocacy like Mariam’s is the first line of defence, he said, arguing the battle needs the partnership of revered traditional institutions, led by custodians of culture like the Emir of Zazzau, to shift the underlying cultural paradigm, since protecting daughters means educating them and giving them the wings to fly.
Marwa praised the author’s courage, intellect and compassion, saying she has made him and the entire family incredibly proud, and urged the gathering to ensure the book’s message reaches every corner of society. Seeing all four of his eldest children, who happen to all be lawyers, pick up the pen to fight societal ills and document human experience, he said, is the greatest legacy a father could ask for, joking that the family has practically become a family of authors. He described the book as tackling an issue both heartbreaking and urgent, the reality of young girls forced into early marriage and the devastating consequences that follow, noting that the neem tree is a common sight across northern communities, offering shade from the sun, yet under some of those very shades, silent traditional arrangements occur that eclipse the bright futures of young daughters. Early marriage robs a girl of her childhood, her education, her health and her potential to contribute meaningfully to society, he said, and Mariam uses her legal background and storytelling to shine a harsh but necessary light on these dark corners, forcing society to confront the practice’s consequences.
Author Mariam Marwa Abdu, founder of the Women and Children’s Rights and Empowerment Foundation, said the book is not simply a work of fiction but a literary manifesto of her lifelong mission, noting that through the foundation, which she established in 2011, she has spent over a decade translating the book’s words into direct action.
