Afeez Adeshina Fashola, better known by his stage name Naira Marley, was reportedly chosen as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) ambassador.
This past Saturday, Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA, provided clarification.
He claimed that the purpose of NDLEA’s most recent collaboration with Naira Marley was to inspire the musician to use his platform to deter young people from doing drugs.
Contrary to rumors, NDLEA claimed that Naira Marley was never chosen as its ambassador.
“This clarification became necessary following continued misrepresentation of the purpose of the visit, especially on online platforms where some reports suggest that the British-Nigerian singer was appointed as an NDLEA Ambassador.
“This is a misleading and absolute falsehood as the pictures of the visit and the short video containing Naira Marley’s advocacy message to his followers were properly captioned and shared by the Agency without suggesting such an appointment.
“The decision by the Agency to encourage Naira Marley, with over seven million followers, half the population of those who abuse drugs in Nigeria, to use his platform to share anti-substance abuse messages against using same to promote and glamourise drug abuse with the dire consequence of misleading millions of Nigerian youths into their peril, is to create a balance between our drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts”.
According to Platinum Times, Naira Marley brought his team members to the National Headquarters of the NDLEA in Abuja on Thursday, August 17, 2023, to show his willingness to help the nation’s fight against drug misuse.