NDLEA under fire over collaboration with Naira Marley

Some Nigerians took to social media to criticise the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for working with Naira Marley.

ER reports that the agency enlisted the singer for its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said in a post on X — formerly Twitter — that the agency will release the singer’s first anti-drug message on Friday.

“See who’s on board @ndlea_nigeria War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign; it’s Naira Marley. Watch out for his message to Nigerian youths,” he wrote.

In a follow-up post, Babafemi shared a video of Naira Marley encouraging Nigerians to desist from drug abuse because “it is not good for your well-being”.

In the footage, the singer said drug abuse increases crime rates. He also said he is supporting the NDLEA campaign to “stop substance abuse in any form”.

“I would like to urge my fans and Nigerian youths to stop drugs because it is not good for your wellbeing. Let us stop substance abuse in any form,” he said.

“I have keyed into this campaign to support NDLEA to stop drugs on the streets. Please join us. It is really not good. It makes you go back into crime and it does a lot of things to you.”

In 2022, Naira Marley was in the news over the arrest of Zinoleesky and Mohbad — his record label signee and former label artiste respectively — by the NDLEA.

The artistes were arrested alongside four others “after some quantities of Cannabis and Molly were recovered from their apartment and car”.

Shortly after their arrest, Naira Marley shared a video of himself smoking heavily while in the company of his team.

The NDLEA’s collaboration with the singer has attracted a chorus of condemnation on the microblogging platform.

Most users on X argued that Naira Marley is not the right celebrity to speak to the youth about drug abuse.

“It’s funny to see someone of Naira Marley’s status represent war against drug abuse but sometimes you fight poison with poison and I believe NDLEA’s partnership with him was intentional,” a user wrote.

Another user wrote: “NDLEA using Naira Marley to tell youths to stop doing drugs is very unprofessional. We have a drug pandemic in Nigeria. It’s a very serious issue and any message they’re passing should be intentional”.

A user alleged that “He must have smoked two wraps before coming for the interview”.

Here are what some users had to say below: