Davido’s Foray into Politics
What It Means for Nigerian Politics and the Entertainment Industry
On Friday, 14th September, 2018, Adeleke David popularly known as Davido tweeted via his twitter handle @iamdavido, “OSUN WAY *praying hands emoji* Pray for Safety and Victory. Amen.” For those who have been watching the political outplay in Osun State, Nigeria ahead of the upcoming gubernatorial elections they would understand how strategic Davido’s temporary relocation to Osun state is. Davido’s paternal uncle, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke is the governorship candidate under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) one of the forty-eight candidates vying for the governorship seat in Osun state. Senator Adeleke who is already very popular for his delightful dancing skills is seeking to leverage Davido’s influence over the youths to tilt the odds of the gubernatorial elections in his favour. Hoblife takes a look at what this recent move by Davido means for Nigerian political scene and the entertainment industry.
The Odds Are High…
The top three candidates vying for the seat in the government house of Osun state are formidable opponents (and probably sworn enemies for the time being). Chief Gboyega Isiaka Oyetola is the governorship candidate of the Osun state and national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC). He is a cousin to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the immediate former Chief of Staff, Osun State. He boasts of over twenty years of understudying Osun State politics but it is his first time of contesting a political position. Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke is an erstwhile serving senator in the stead of his late senior brother. He known popularly as the dancing senator and governorship candidate of the PDP. Senator Iyiola Omisore, is the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He is a former senator of the Federal Republic and a former deputy governor of Osun state. However, this is not his first time of contesting for the governorship position in Osun State, he lost in 2014. The perk in Oyetola’s is not particularly insignificant. His emergence as the governorship candidate of the APC had caused a good number of allies to sail away to other parties. Sen. Omisore moved from PDP to SDP to get a governorship ticket to try and stop both Oyetola and Adeleke. Omisore’s emergence did cause a lot of stir in the SDP. Obviously, the waters of the governorship election are obviously murky.
Davido Is Getting Good Press
Positive media coverage is one thing that is very important to the profile of every entertainer, musician as it is in this case. Virtually every player in the entertainment industry have their bad sides. However, what is important is, people need to see enough of the artiste’s good side to overlook the bad, this is what good press serves a purpose for. This is exactly what Davido has created within the space of a year, he made amends with longtime rival Wizkid in 2017 with a surprise stage performance with him; He is currently dating a young beautiful lady, Chioma whom he dedicated an entire track to, she also tours with him almost everywhere amongst other mouthwatering PDA acts; Recently, he officially became the richest individual to ever wear the NYSC khaki to serve his country for the compulsory one year service for graduates; And now, the organisation of massive campaign rallies around Osun state in order to boost the viability of his paternal uncle in the upcoming gubernatorial elections on Saturday, 23rd September, 2018. All these are presenting to us an evolving Davido and we all are quickly forgetting his many faults. After all we are all human.
What’s Expected If Senator Adeleke wins
There are no confirmations on what Davido stands to gain if Senator Adeleke wins yet. But our calculated guess is that if Senator Adeleke were to win Davido would be taking on his first (probably amongst many to come) political post on a platter of gold. It is certain that he might not be able to stay fully in Nigeria over the period of the tenure of a political post, considering his lucrative and upcoming international career. However, with the current political structure in Nigeria, he would most likely be given a portfolio in a Sen. Adeleke governed cabinet.
Davido Is Blazing A Trail for Entertainers Interested in Politics
In recent elections we have seen a crop of entertainers interested in contesting for political positions. Desmond Elliott, a Nollywood actor is about the most successful of them all having won a Lagos state house of assembly seat. Other entertainers who have lost or dropped out in their political bids include, Abolore Akande aka 9ice, Emeka Ike, Kate Henshaw etc. Most of them had stuck with the conventional approach to political campaigns. There was an obvious dichotomy between their entertainment profiles and the one they built around becoming a political leader. Davido’s new campaign style of massive music rallies will open the eyes of many stakeholders in the entertainment industry nursing political dreams. We expect that more entertainers will boldly integrate their entertaining skills into their future political campaigns. Davido’s rally move is most likely to create more opportunities for entertainers. We expect that in future politics that some musicians will booked to headline political campaigns. There is no prove that entertainers are born leaders but the crowd they pull and a youth dominated audience is a sure way to win elections.
Free Campaign Rallies Is a Witty Way of Giving Back to His Hometown
Davido’s Adeleke Family are from Ede, in Osun state but he had never had an opportunity to give back to Osun state in spite of his booming music career. It would be recalled that Davido had excluded Osun state from his ‘Back to Basics’ tour. This had been after the death of one of his paternal uncles, Sen. Isiaka Adeleke resulting from a heart attack. It would be recalled Davido said at the time, “Osun will never be the same again”
He might have held a grudge against his own people for the murder of his uncle. But coming out the way he is currently doing for the other Sen. Adeleke’s political campaigns is a sure way to mend his strained relationship with the same people. Don’t forget although he has his roots in Osun state owing to his father hailing from there, his place of birth is actually Atlanta, Georgia in the US.
The Future
Whether Sen. Adeleke wins or not, Davido has apparently implanted himself in the forefront of Nigerian politics in an unconventional and rather unpopular move. Like he said, when he started his NYSC camping exercise he is already, ‘…tying up every loose ends! *halo emoji*’ We won’t be surprised to see him contesting for political positions in the future and we wish him all the very best.
