To think that award-winning singer, Davido, whose real name is David Adeleke, is just 29 years old is mind-blowing.
It is a privilege to share this era with him. His impact, alongside Ayo Balogun, on the music scene has been outstanding and inspirational.
Indeed, Davido has proven to be a god among men, a colossal in the rank of Zeus and other deities. His latest magic (yes, magic) because it takes a magician to even think of doing what he did. To call out friends jokingly, having them turn up and then conjuring up a massive giveaway from it all. What an absolute stunner!!!
But it is not an issue of luck, rather, years of investing in people.
It is not a secret within and outside the music industry that Davido has been one of the most supportive artistes out there. Colleagues have testified to his willingness to support fellow artistes; despite his illustrious background as someone born into wealth.
“Davido came to my shoot, stayed 8 hours did everything we wanted and more. Davido, thank you, thank you. WE HAVE A HIT ON THE WAY!!!,” Teni, a female artiste, had recently posted on Twitter about Davido.
His decision to donate the sum of N200m and an additional N50m to charity is a masterstroke and most importantly, his choices of persons to manage the disbursement of the funds cannot easily be faulted.
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Davido is like the Bill Gates of Nigeria. It would be recalled that Mr Gates was able to persuade the ultra-rich like himself to give back half their wealth in their lifetime. And he has been able to achieve some results.
However, there is a lesson to be learnt from this whole thing. First, there are burning questions.
Would the artistes have donated if someone had called on them to donate same for charity? Would they have donated to charity if Davido had asked them? What role did the influence of Davido play in the donation?
The truth is, Davido’s influence played a huge role in the success of raising over N200million within such a short period of time. Most donated because of past relationship with him, for future benefit and some for clout. Irrespective of the reason, it is an investment that is worth every penny. Hence, all praises to Davido, him and him only.
The poor level of organized charity in Nigeria is appalling. The inability to give back to society is sickening. Imagine if some of those celebrities who jumped to send Davido money had been contributing N1 million to any primary healthcare around them. Just imagine what we woul have. In most advanced nations across the world, that is the reality. People contribute to building those societies.
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In Nigeria, people are not giving for the sake of giving or helping others. I t is always for getting something back in return. That explains why pastors can raise billions for new auditoriums easily. Most people believe giving to God will bring multiple returns. God is the King of high return on investments.
Those who gave to Davido understand the importance of such an investment. It is Davido that donated to charity, not them.
How do we spur the act of giving back to our society? Alumni giving at U.S. colleges totalled more than $11 billion in 2019. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/universities-where-the-most-alumni-donate
Then there is the silly argument. What did my university ‘tuition-free’ do for me? Those donating in the US did not get tuition-free education as some of us have enjoyed in this country. Some students pay student loans, yet they are giving periodically. Some of the parks, museums and other facilities we see in the US are products of charity.
There are people in advanced countries donating to humanitarian issues outside their domains. Today, Nigeria and several countries have been declared polio-free because of the effort of Mr Gates.
In fact, the point is, Nigerian celebrities and others should take a lesson from this. Over 1,000 members of the UNILAG Alumni could raise N1 billion by donating a fraction of their income to the school on a monthly basis. That road in your neighbourhood could be fixed when people come together to donate.
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Go back to your old primary school. The sum of N1 million will transform the library.
Hence, there should be no commendation to those who donated to the N250m giveaway to charity. They only invested in Davido, hoping for good ROI.
Davido, please accommodate Baba Fryo in your orphanage plan….
Once upon a time, Baba Fryo was the Davido of the Nigerian music industry.
The Denge Pose crooner was one of the creme de la creme of the music scene, except the fact that he, alongside others had the fame but not the money.
The type of money in the music industry today makes several of the old guards angry and envious. Sometimes, it is hard for them to contain that emotion.
“At present, we don’t have raw talents in the music industry. people doing music now are the ‘Yahoo’ and drug boys. They took over the industry,” Baba Fryo had said in a recent interview.
Please, Mr Adeleke, the next fundraising should be for poverty-ridden old artistes. There are loads of them. At the same time, a lesson to the current artistes making waves. Please put down some investment before you end up broke and bitter, like Fryo and others from the 90s and 2000s.
Indeed, if there is a knighthood honour system in Nigeria, by now, Davido should be Sir David of the House of Adeleke. Or perhaps, we should send an emissary to the Queen. Do this one for us, and we can pardon some of the colonial transgressions against us. In the meantime, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) will do and perhaps a nice street named after him.
Kudos, Sir David of the House of Adeleke.
