BY IKENNA OBIOHA
Davido is known for his successful music career, but what you might not be aware of is his desire to effect positive change using his star power. With each acceptance speech at international award shows, he delivers a message tinged with activism. Davido now strives to use his celebrity status to affect a change in his immediate environment, be it the industry where he is noted as a top star, or in local communities where his music is loved.
Although the Dami Duro crooner doesn’t actively identify himself as a politician for now, he subtly hinted in an interview with Jasmine Dotiwala on Channel 4 News of his intentions. “Probably, if I’m not in it a 100 percent, I will probably be around.’
As rehearsed as that sounds, should he decide to go into politics in the future, it wouldn’t come totally as a surprise to anyone as the music star helped in canvassing for votes at the gubernatorial levels in Osun state on behalf of his uncle Ademola Adeleke last year. For now, it would be safe to acknowledge that he has a grasp of how things work there.
Being successful and widely accepted by fans across the globe and donned with the scarce privilege of being a US citizen, Davido is not immune to the widespread racism in America. He revealed how he was once investigated by the local police authority when he moved into a white neighbourhood in the United States. Although he didn’t take any offence for their curiosity, he simply termed their reactions as “white people’s expectation of the average black person.”
“I’m the only African-American or African person in that neighbourhood. So I drove in… It’s like two days later, police came at the door (detective type), came in, searched the house asking me ‘what do I do?’”
Understanding the plight of Africans and Nigerians in particular in the face of economic recession and unabashed corrupt practices, he noted that entertainment was one of the factors that has helped the people stay afloat emotionally.
“Entertainment has been a saving grace for us in Africa because that is the only thing we can look at and smile.”
He also remarked on the positivity that comes with African musical offerings in terms of shaping our narrative and selling our unique stories to the rest of the world. Albeit busy with his career, he has one foot in the politics scene with his Defend Your Vote movement that aims to sensitise the general populace on protecting their votes in the upcoming elections. For now, he is still touring the world and making good music, until he makes up his mind to run for office.
