- A video of Naira Marley advising against illicit substance use drew attention due to his reputation for promoting drug abuse
- Babafemi clarified that the collaboration aimed at leveraging Marley’s influence over his young followers to discourage substance abuse
Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has said that the agency won’t fail to arrest Naira Marley if he is caught with Illegal substances.
He made this known in an interview with Punch while explaining that the agency deliberately collaborated with the controversial artist Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, for its anti-drug abuse campaign.
A video of Naira Marley advising young people to refrain from using illicit substances had sparked criticism. This was especially noteworthy due to the artist’s reputation for glorifying and endorsing drug abuse.
Babafemi said, “It is an advocacy engagement with him. It is what we do as part of the responsibilities of the agency to promote advocacy messages that would discourage people from substance abuse. It is about the message.
“Don’t forget that he has a lot of young followers— Marlians— that look up to him. The idea is for the leader of the movement (Marlians) to come out and ask people to stop substance abuse, and live a new life.”
The drug agency’s spokesperson also noted that using Marley as an advocate did not mean that the agency won’t arrest him if he was caught with illegal substances. He said, “Last year, we arrested some of his artistes (Zinoleesky and Mohbad). That is to show that we are not closing our eyes. If the same Naira Marley is caught with illicit substances tomorrow, he will face sanctions.”
Babafemi added that critics should consider the message and not focus on the messenger.
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