Following social media uproar and negative reactions over singer Naira Marley being an advocate of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the body has stated that the singer is not their ambassador.
The NDLEA clarified that their relationship with singer Naira Marley was just to promote awareness against using his platform.
They said since Naira Marley has a huge following and a loyal fan base known as Marlians, that would be an easy way to sensitize the public on drug abuse.
The NDLEA spokesman released a statement yesterday stating that Naira Marley being an ambassador for the agency is nothing but a misleading and absolute falsehood.
The statement read:
"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."
The NDLEA clarified that their relationship with singer Naira Marley was just to promote awareness against using his platform.
They said since Naira Marley has a huge following and a loyal fan base known as Marlians, that would be an easy way to sensitize the public on drug abuse.
The NDLEA spokesman released a statement yesterday stating that Naira Marley being an ambassador for the agency is nothing but a misleading and absolute falsehood.
The statement read:
"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."