5 Nigerian Celebrities Who Clashed With Their Fathers Over Career Choices

In the process of choosing a career, certain parents insist on their children pursuing paths they’ve selected for them.

This parental influence often exerts considerable pressure on many youths’ career decisions, leading to negative repercussions that impact their overall happiness and personal lives.

In this article, The Nation explores the experiences of five well-known Nigerian celebrities who, at various stages, clashed with their fathers over their chosen career paths.

1. Alibaba: Veteran Nigerian comedian cum actor, Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, popularly known as Alibaba, said his father kept malice with him for a decade for choosing comedy over law.

Alibaba said after graduation from the university, he informed his father about his intention to become a comedian, and his reaction forced him to abscond from home, stressing that all attempts to reach his dad failed.

He said he became determined to be a successful comedian to prove his father wrong.

2. Chidi Mokeme: Nollywood actor, Chidi Mokeme, in a recent interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, recounted how he absconded from home to focus on his acting career because his father didn’t support his decision to become a thespian.

According to him, his father never supported his decision, and sometimes, he would sneak out to do modelling jobs before he finally left home to focus on his acting career.

3. Davido: Nigerian singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, was also engaged in a fight with his billionaire dad, Adedeji Adeleke, who sent police to arrest him several times in the early days of his career.

The ‘Omo Baba Olowo’ crooner, in an interview on Hot 97FM, New York, said his dad was initially against his musical career and wanted him to focus on his education.

Davido said his father sent police operatives to arrest him and disrupt shows he was billed to perform at several times.

4. Spyro: Nigerian singer, Oludipe Oluwasanmi David, popularly known as Spyro, recently revealed a ‘war’ that occurred between him and his father over his choice of music career.

During an interview with Tea With Tay podcast, Spyro said his father did not support his decision to become a musician.

According to the ‘Who’s Your Guy’ crooner, his father had earlier thwarted his dream of being a fine artist, so he rebelled when he attempted to stop him from becoming a singer.

5. Femi Branch: Nollywood actor, Femi Branch, in an interview with PUNCH, also narrated how his father nearly disowned him for not studying law.

He said: “It was a serious matter for me at home when I decided to study theatre arts because my father always wanted a lawyer. It was so bad that he had to go back to the University of Ibadan to take a diploma course in law; he really wanted one of his children to become a lawyer, but I could not have been bothered.

“For him, it was a disappointment, and he almost did not contact me for about two years. Our fight was settled when I did a commercial for MTN. I was not in Lagos, and we had not spoken for a long time before that.”