TEXT OF SEECH PRESENTED BY ADA KING, US-BASED, NIGERIAN-AMERICAN MUSIC ACT,SONG WRITER,DANCER,YOUTH ACTIVIST AND HUMANITARIAN,ON THE OCCASION OF HER UNVEILING IN NIGERIA BY INFINITE MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT INC.,LA,USA, AND THE FLAG-OFF OF HER NATION-WIDE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE USE OF ILLICIT DRUGS IN NIGERIA,HELD ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 27,2022, AT THE MAIN HALL OF SANDRALIA HOTELS,ABUJA.
PROTOCOLS
Permit me to start this speech by thanking you all for coming to give us the support to be able to commence the actualisation of the great vision that my recording label,Infinite Music and Entertainment Incorporated,LA,USA, and I have for music and general entertainment in our dear country.
It is public knowledge that Nigeria with its array of artistes, performers,film actors,writers as well as sportsmen and women has excelled in virtually all fields of entertainment across the globe. Our country has in more years than anyone can remember continued to evolve in music, literature, football and entertainment that it is so easy everywhere across the globe to identify our kind and brand of music and to dance to it.
Today our greatest export to the world,and one which has changed the fortunes of many young Nigerians ,is entertainment. Some of our youths who would have otherwise continued to languish in lack and youth misadventures in life are today making news and winning laurels everywhere just because of the open leeway to success ,which entertainment has provided for us all. Sometimes ,I ponder and ask,if we realize the homongos goodwill and international respect entertainment has brought to us as a country. This is to even say nothing of its contribution to our national GDP.
When we look at the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood,and the music industry today and begin to reckon the impact these two areas of entertainment have had on our society,our image abroad and all that concerns us,we will realize the need to open up more frontiers for everything entertainment.
Today,as we gather here to launch yet another act,which is my humble self to the music circles of our great nation through my recording label,Infinite Music,we seek to send the message wide and clear to all lovers of good music and entertainment that we are here to stay. As a young Nigerian- American,who early in life identified the awesome power and influence music wields in society,I believe that we can change our world and make it a better place through music.
We are, therefore, here to serve all those who are interested in making music ; the kind of music that will change generations of mankind. Today,as I embark on this new journey on our nation’s music terrain,I am mindful of the responsibility of the artiste to society. What is my song saying? What message am I propagating in my songs and what can I do to leave the world a better place as an artiste?
All of the above concerns and questions had continued to agitate my mind back in LA as I prepared to come into our dear country, for the very first time,I must say. Eventually, alongside the recording label and my team,we chose to draw attention to the menace of illicit drug use in Nigeria,which across the country and among people my age,is brandishing alarming statistics! So,as I settle down to push my music through the streets of our country’s major cities in the next few weeks,I welcome you all to join me and my partners to carry the campaign of a Drug-free Nigeria around.
Permit me, therefore,at this juncture to introduce to this distinguished audience The Ada King Drug- Free Nigeria Initiative ( TAKDNI). Through this initiative,we hope to request the partnership of individuals,groups, the Media, institutions of government and other non-State actors to raise awareness on the dangers that lie ahead in the continuous use of such social drugs as Cannabis, otherwise known as “Igbo”, Tramadol, Codeine, Pentazocine, Methamphetamine, otherwise known as Crystal Meth or Mkpulummili in Nigeria’s Southeast enclave,as well as Cocaine, Heroine and many others.
Through various partnerships and collaborations,we hope to also go beyond just raising awareness on the dangers inherent in the use of these illicit drugs and substances,but also liaise with critical stakeholders in the fight and campaign against illicit drugs to canvass better treatment and rehabilitation measures for users or addicts of those drugs. The current situation where some of these users are flogged in villages,detained without food and treated as people without rights may as well be doing us more harm than good. We must treat them in a way that they do not begin to think that society has rejected them completely. We must start to change the narrative from today.Again ,we invite you all to join us on this campaign with the power of music.
Finally,I cannot end this speech without informing us of the vision our recording label and my humble self have to commence the building of,at least, six state- of- the art rehabilitation centers for drug users in our country. We intend to have one for each zone in the first instance before expanding further.
On this note,let me convey my appreciations to Engineer Robert Azibaolo of Zeetin Engineering Ltd,Nazel Consult Ltd,the Kogi State Government and others ,who have expressed the willingness to partner with us on this laudable initiative against illicit drug addiction and use in Nigeria.
In conclusion, permit me to publicly convey my gratitude to my recording label ,Infinite Music and Entertainment Incorporated,LA,USA, and its President/ CEO,Dr. Kester Ezuma,my source of inspiration,my mentor and everything,on whose benevolent and professional shoulders I have continued to lean these past years to come thus far. Sir,I am, indeed, grateful for every act of commitment and sacrifice on your part to see me become who you really want me to be. God bless you immensely.
And to everyone here,God bless you and thanks for coming.
Signed.
*Ada King*
Abuja, January 27,2022