After the rumours making rounds that The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made Popular Nigerian singer Naira Marley, its Ambassador, The NDLEA has addressed the rumours, and his recent visit to the agency’s Abuja headquarters.
Contrary to social media speculation, the agency emphasized that Naira Marley’s visit was not linked to any ambassadorial role.
Although Naira Marley’s visit garnered attention for his passionate stance against drug abuse and his call for Nigerians to reject drugs, the NDLEA firmly rejected the notion that his visit resulted in an ambassadorship with the agency. The NDLEA termed such claims as both “misleading” and “completely untrue.”
In an official statement issued on Saturday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi clarified that their engagement with Naira Marley was centred on urging him to utilize his talents and influential platforms to create content that discourages substance abuse among his vast following and the youth of Nigeria.
The statement however noted that: “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 any suggestion of 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 as against using same to promote and glamourize 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.
“This is also in line with the Agency’s whole society approach to the fight against drug abuse and in tune with global best practices as well as the theme for this year’s World Drug Day; People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention.”
