Davido: “Over Them All”

“We rise by lifting others” is a popular phrase that David Adedeji Adeleke, a.k.a Davido, is known for. He believes that uplifting people not only helps you grow as an individual but is the greatest legacy one can leave behind by carving your name in the hearts of people.

Davido was born on the 21st of November, 1992 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and is the youngest of five children of his father, Adedeji Adeleke and late mother, Veronica Imade Adeleke. He attended the British International School in Lagos, and at the age of 16, he returned to the U.S. to study Business Administration at Oakwood University, Alabama.

The singer came to the limelight with his hit single, ‘Dami Duro’, which took Nigeria by storm and from then onwards, it’s been nothing but greatness as he has continued to soar higher winning awards, and being recognised worldwide.

“Becoming a dad is one thing, but being a dad is many things.” Davido is a father of six children: Imade, Hailey, Dawson, the late Ifeanyi, and his newly born twins whose names haven’t been revealed yet. Davido is many things to his children, and amongst the many things, although not perfect, being a dad they can count on is top on the list. In 2022, Davido lost his son Ifeanyi in his home after a tragic incident.

That was such a devastating moment for him and his family, and the tragedy caused him to be off all social media platforms for a really long time but despite him being offline, fans across the world constantly showed him love from holding memorial concerts to sending countless messages, which anyone from anywhere definitely knew that Davido is loved by everyone.

According to Elizabeth Berrien, “We can never get over a loss, but we can move forward and evolve from it.” After taking the long break to grieve this loss, Davido definitely evolved as he came back to perform on one of the biggest stages, the 2022 World Cup, and later released the Grammy-nominated album “Timeless,” which was and is still a masterpiece.

If asked to describe Davido with one word, it’ll be selfless because he puts others before himself and makes sure he is always there for his family and friends. No matter how far or how tired he is, he would always be there.

On his birthday in 2021, the artist asked his friends and colleagues to send him one million naira each, and before the day ended, he had gotten up a hundred million, and within a few days, it doubled to over two hundred million. Surprisingly, Davido gave the money to charities across Nigeria. He is truly rising by lifting others, and a legend like him can never die because his legacy is etched in the minds and hearts of everyone around him and beyond.

* Nicole Oluwafunmilayo Aluko, Department of Mass Communications, Veritas University, Bwari, Abuja.