The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has denied the engagement of any brand ambassador as part of its social awareness for the fight against the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic
This is coming after numerous calls from Nigerians that the Centre should terminate its contract with Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, popularly known as its brand ambassador. Vanguard had reported earlier about the arrest of Funke Akindele on Sunday by Lagos police command for violating the social distancing directive issued by the Federal government and Lagos state government to contain the spread of coronavirus. Funke violated the directive by hosting a house party in honour of her husband on Saturday. The Nollywood star had appeared in adverts for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Dettol, urging Nigerians to observe social distancing and good hygiene. Vanguard learnt that the NCDC partnered with Dettol on a public service message to educate communities about preventive measures against COVID-19. After a video of the birthday went viral on social media, Nigerians on Twitter, Instagram who presumed Funke was an ambassador of the brands called on NCDC and Dettol to terminate their contracts with her for violating an order that’s meant to manage the spread of coronavirus. READ ALSO: Police arrest Funke Akindele for violating Social Distancing order However, while reacting to the development on Sunday evening, NCDC took to its Twitter handle to announce that the centre has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of its response to COVID-19 “As an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, NCDC has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of our response to #COVID19 “We continue to emphasise that all Nigerians maintain #socialdistancing to prevent the spread of #COVID19″ Dettol also Twitted, saying that as a responsible organization and brand, it does not condone any breach of the guidelines on COVID-19, hence, Funke is not an ambassador of NCDC. “We have been made aware through social media that Funke Akindele recently, acting in her personal capacity, had a celebration which is against the caution to the public on social distancing during the covid-19 pandemic
However, while reacting to the development on Sunday evening, NCDC took to its Twitter handle to announce that the centre has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of its response to COVID-19 “As an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, NCDC has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of our response to #COVID19 “We continue to emphasise that all Nigerians maintain #socialdistancing to prevent the spread of #COVID19″ Dettol also Twitted, saying that as a responsible organization and brand, it does not condone any breach of the guidelines on COVID-19, hence, Funke is not an ambassador of NCDC. “We have been made aware through social media that Funke Akindele recently, acting in her personal capacity, had a celebration which is against the caution to the public on social distancing during the covid-19 pandemic. “As a responsible organization and brand Dettol does not condone any breach of the guidelines on COVID-19. “As an organization we are concerned at the turn of events. We will continue to support NCDC and the Nigerian govt to fight COVID-19 “The NCDC partnered with Dettol on a public service message to educate our communities about preventive measures against COVID-19. Funke is not a brand ambassador of the NCDC”.
SOURCE:VANGUARD.
[logo-slider]
