NCDC Yanks Off Funke Akindele Jingle From Website
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has pulled down a Coronavirus (COVID-19) advisory video which featured Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, from its website.
This followed Akindele’s violation of the social distancing directive and lockdown order declared in the state to contain the spread of COVID-19, by throwing a crowded birthday party for her husband at their Amen Estate residence on Saturday.
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The actress had recorded a video jingle for the NCDC on COVID-19 awareness which until now was featured on the right side-bar of the NCDC microsite: covid19.ncdc.gov.ng
Checks by THE WHISTLER on Sunday showed that the video had been deleted by the agency after Akindele violated the lockdown order.
When this newspaper put the link of the microsite on digital archive website, Wayback Machine, it was discovered that the video was still on the NCDC microsite as of March 29.
Meanwhile, Akindele, according to reports, had been arrested by operatives from the Lagos State Police Command.
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The NCDC has also come out to deny signing any endorsement contract with the actress.
The Centre tweeted on Sunday night: “As an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, NCDC has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of our response to COVID-19.
“We continue to emphasise that all Nigerians maintain social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19”
Dettol, which partnered with the NCDC to record the jingle, issued the following statement: “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.
“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.
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“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.”
