Preying from Paris: An Open Letter to Davido from a Lover

Greetings, my dearest Davido!

My name is Onyeka Nwelue. This is to remind you that we have worked together and to remind you that our encounter date back to when I did your work permit paperwork for a show in Paris. That show turned out to be awful, enough for you to deny ever playing in Paris. Then you had another one, where you declared it was your first time ever in Paris. Anyways, we are all alive today.  Let me just go straight to the point.

Last year, when I started this column, I began with an article titled, “On Davido and ‘hanger-on’ Nigerian Musicians”. That rings a bell, especially with present circumstances in mind abi? Well, that’s because I am very psychic. Yes, I am a practising Voodooist. I believe in the Dead Saints. I worship Ogbuibe, the Lake Goddess, and I burn incense and candles. Does this sound scary? Oh well, I saw a picture of you and Angelique Kidjo a few days ago. She practices Voodoo too. In fact, she comes from Ouidah, the greatest town of Voodoo in Benin Republic, where snakes don’t bite people. There is a Temple of Python in front of a Catholic church in that town and that town, oh Jesus, is heavenly!

Let me not digress. So, here we are:

I knew you would get into trouble some day. It is soothing and healing to call on God when everything seems so mysterious, but before these things happen to some of us, we already know they would happen. Our intuition, our instincts, telepathy! You knew that someday your generosity and kind heart will put you in trouble.

Here is the thing: when we are the Stars, we want others to shine as well.

You’re one of the brightest stars I know and that is why everyone wants to connect with you and hang around you. I doubt you have a private life. Even me, with my gloomy life, I have people flock around me every day. Sometimes invited, other times uninvited. I sound arrogant, abi? Truth is that so many people want to be at the bottom of life – people are scared of climbing to the top and when they see people at the top, they begin to imagine how they got there. Many will assume you used Voodoo, fucked your way up or lied your way up.

There are so many things that go through the minds of people when they can’t figure you out. They do everything to come close to you. They want exactly what you have. They come to destroy you. So many of them don’t come to help you stay stable. They always want. They snitch on you. They want to know that thing that will bring you to a standstill. But, the truth is that you are stronger than death. Your innocence will always disarm those idiots.

I have watched you from afar. Nobody can conquer you. Every passing day brings misery and turmoil to you, yet, you keep rising. My heart is with you. The only problem is that you feel you are indebted to so many people. You feel you owe your cousins. You don’t owe them.One minute, an uncle of yours dies and the next minute, another uncle of yours takes over his position and he now dances every week. This is to tell you that we are all dust and that when you die, life will move on. The people you feel you owe will go on with their lives.

You don’t matter much, my brother. The only thing that will stick with us, is your song, Aye. If people remember the other timed ones, good. But, Aye remains a timeless song and that is Davido’s legacy. You don’t matter, my brother. Stop making your acquaintances and friends feel that you are here to stay forever. You will vanish and they will stay. They will die and you will stay. You didn’t come into this world with anyone.

I never met your friend, Tagbo. You now say he was like your brother. He became famous when he died. They are now conducting an autopsy. I am certain you did not kill him. You don’t have any reason to. Then, DJ Olu dies in his car, mysteriously. We can not ascertain what is happening, but the truth is that you have no hand in any of these.

I am so sure that as long as you’re in the Nigerian space, you will be surrounded by many young people who are not sure of their fate, destiny or what they want. So many of them can’t contain their dreams. They can’t stand their dreams, so they want to ride on the dreams of others.

Many people who call themselves your friends, are around you because they want people to know them through you. They have no talents of their own. And they are not ashamed because they don’t even know that we know that they are talentless. Hanging around Davido brings some sort of prestige. They are willing to just scare others away because they want respect from Davido’s struggle. Truth is that they are not useful. They only warm up the place, but as a writer, sometimes, I need my space, so having these guys all the time, you get to spend time, arguing over things, having your ego massaged because they will be smelling your smelly bum bum, licking it and praising you. None will have the guts to tell you anything that you don’t want to hear.

I’m not a hater. I am an admirer who fell out of love with you in Paris and I have never recovered since then. You treated me with disdain. You wanted to beat up one of the people who worked for me. You said, ‘I go beat you like pikin.’ It hurt me. You never apologized, because you are Omo Baba Lowo. But, I don’t care. What I really care about now is that you stay safe and grow wise. People want you down!

Don’t let the bastards grind you down! I’m with you!