Nigerian controversial singer and songwriter, Azeez Adeshina Fashola, known as Naira Marley has become an ambassador to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to campaign against drug abuse in the country.
This was made known by the spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Thursday.
He said that Naira Marley was well received by the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) when the artiste paid a visit to the National Headquarters of the agency.
According to Babafemi, the meeting was aimed at deliberating on effective strategies to combat the issue of illicit drugs in Nigeria.
“Music star, Naira Marley in Abuja to declare support for the War Against Drug Abuse on Thursday 17th August 2023,” he wrote.
“Watch out for the video of his message to Marlians and Nigerian youths here tomorrow,” he said.
Naira Marley in a video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, said he would like to urge his fans, the ‘Marlians’ and the Nigerian youth to stop doing drugs because it is not good for their well-being.
“Let us all stop substance abuse in any form. I have keyed into this campaign to support the NDLEA to stop drugs on the streets. Please, join us as drug abuse is not good,” the 32-year-old said.
Meanwhile, the musician is one of Nigeria’s musicians known for glamorising weed.
Naira Marley who visited with other members of his team such as Sam Larry, Dami Marshal and Chuddy Naira on Wednesday, November 6, 2019, tweeted that he smoked loud but didn’t do drugs.
“I smoke loud I don’t do drugs,” he wrote.
In another tweet, Marley said, “I really like smoking loud. I can quit whenever, I just don’t see a reason. It’s not harmful to me. It makes me stay happy and se jeje.”
Loud is a hybrid strain of marijuana. The name is used to describe this type of weed’s intense odour and strong taste.
He also released a song dedicated to marijuana titled ‘Marry Juana’.
In the song, Naira Marley expressed his love for marijuana, saying, “I just wanna marry Juana, please let me marry Juana, cannabis in the rizla, so high I can’t get higher.”
He was once arrested and faced charges bordering on alleged credit card fraud contrary to Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and the Cyber Crimes Act.
The singer was accused of committing the offences between November 26 and December 11, 2018, and on May 10, 2018. He was arraigned on May 20, 2019, but granted bail.