{"id":16075,"date":"2023-09-25T22:05:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T21:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=16075"},"modified":"2023-09-30T14:05:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T13:05:22","slug":"is-naira-marley-ndlea-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/is-naira-marley-ndlea-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Naira Marley NDLEA Ambassador?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Claim<\/strong>: There have been claims on social media and in news reports on the ambassadorial role of a popular Nigerian Musician, Azeez Fasola popularly known as Naira Marley&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"132\" height=\"55\" data-attachment-id=\"16077\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/is-naira-marley-ndlea-ambassador\/false-2-16\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FALSE-2.png?fit=132%2C55&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"132,55\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"FALSE-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FALSE-2.png?fit=132%2C55&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FALSE-2.png?resize=132%2C55\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16077\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#fff9f9;background-color:#f41216\"><strong>Verdict<\/strong>: The claim that Azeez Fasola, popularly known as Naira Marley, was appointed as NDLEA ambassador is false. NDLEA denied the appointment in a press release signed by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy on the 19th of August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-black-color has-text-color wp-block-heading\"><strong>Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the controversial death of a Nigerian Musician, Promise Oladimeji Aloba popularly known as Mohbad on 12th September 2023, and the report of alleged maltreatment from his former record label, Marlian Music, owned by Azeez Fasola. Several video clips of assault on the late songster including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CxP6MWCusJv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one where he was said to have been given a liquid substance<\/a> by the NDLEA have surfaced on the internet and reactions have continued to trail the circumstances surrounding his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of these reactions have been targeted at his former boss at Marlian Music, Azzeez Fasola. While Nigerians have called for thorough investigations into the matter, people have equally continued to condemn the alleged relationship of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency with Azeez Fasola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">African Council on Narcotics, while also reacting in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/2023\/09\/mohbad-council-on-narcotics-urges-ndlea-to-suspend-naira-marley-as-agencys-ambassador\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> published by Vanguard Newspaper, asked the NDLEA to suspend Fasola as its Ambassador pending the conclusion of investigations into Mohbad\u2019s death.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Azeez Fasola and his Marlian Music has a history of promoting drug use in their songs and this prompted the <a href=\"https:\/\/m.youtube.com\/watch?v=bP_Wbo-Sffk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NDLEA to raid their residence<\/a> where drugs were recovered as exhibits and arrest were made in February 2022.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 17th August 2023,<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ndlea_nigeria\/status\/1692190302998561143?t=cvAkNuR1CesnpsWF1xJmhw&amp;s=19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Fasola was at the headquarters of the NDLEA <\/a>where he lent his voice to the campaign against drug abuse in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ndlea_nigeria\/status\/1692210277209584087?t=aNwEdRR_ADtK0wlofDjK8w&amp;s=19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">26-second video clip<\/a> where he discouraged youths from indulging in drug abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The video sparked claims of Fasola\u2019s ambassadorial role at the time, the claims would later resurfaced after Mohbad\u2019s death on X (formerly known as Twitter) from notable influencers, including <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrOlufunmilayo\/status\/1703325444412465304?t=4uG15Uy3ViNWJVPPTs4w5g&amp;s=19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@DrOlufunmillayo<\/a>, @<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FS_Yusuf_\/status\/1704111459465085312?t=4uG15Uy3ViNWJVPPTs4w5g&amp;s=19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FS_Yusuf_<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/instablog9ja\/status\/1703147535282426221?t=4uG15Uy3ViNWJVPPTs4w5g&amp;s=19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@instablog9ja<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-verification\"><strong>Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Checks by <a href=\"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DUBAWA<\/a> show that, following the initial reactions that trailed the video posted on social media on 17th August 2023, the NDLEA in a <a href=\"https:\/\/ndlea.gov.ng\/news\/reports-on-naira-marleys-appointment-as-ndlea-ambassador-outright-falsehood\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a> by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on 19th August denied any such relationship with Naira Marley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis 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.\u201d Statement of the NDLEA reads in part.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The statement continued: \u201cThis is misleading and absolute falsehood as the pictures of the visit and the short video containing Naira Marley\u2019s advocacy message to his followers were properly cationed and shared by the agency without any suggestion of such appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The claim that Azeez Fasola, popularly known as Naira Marley, was appointed as NDLEA ambassador is false. The appointment was denied by NDLEA in a 19th of August press release signed by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 17th August 2023, Fasola was at the headquarters of the NDLEA where he lent his voice to the campaign against drug abuse in a 26-second video clip where he discouraged youths from indulging in drug abuse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,3815,123],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[1587],"class_list":["post-16075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-homepage","category-mainstream"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-4bh","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1587,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"taiwo-fatola","display_name":"Taiwo Fatola","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f5378084639db2c3c3c4116234bda315f30c4d24f917b4749f9c1c10c9fa6eb7?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/naiura.webp?fit=770%2C433&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16075"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16157,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16075\/revisions\/16157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16075"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=16075"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=16075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}