Advertisement

‘Send me money’: millionaire pop star Davido’s viral appeal nets £330,000

<span>Photograph: Brad Barket/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: Brad Barket/Getty Images

Fans and celebrities contribute after singer says he wants to get his Rolls-Royce cleared from port


The multimillionaire Afrobeats star Davido has said fans and friends paid him more than £300,000 after he asked people on Twitter to send money.

The Nigerian-American singer, whose real name is David Adeleke, posted on Wednesday: “If u know I’ve given you a hit song … send me money,” and gave details of a new Nigerian bank account.

Within 90 minutes of the posts – to his more than 31 million followers on Twitter and Instagram – the 28-year-old shared a screenshot of his account balance showing more than 42m naira (about £76,000) had already been deposited.

In one post with laughing emojis, he said his aim was to raise N100m to get his Rolls-Royce car cleared from a port.

Stars and companies boasted of taking part, posting screenshots of their donations, in a viral episode that has been met with positive and excited reactions on social media in Nigeria but also bemusement and criticism of the wealthy star publicly soliciting funds.

As word spread, the singer lightheartedly called out celebrities and friends in videos posted on Instagram Stories. He thanked stars ranging from the singer Falz to the Nigerian Leicester City footballers Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho, and Nigerian royals, between posts showing him sitting in a Lamborghini and appearing to buy luxury jewellery in Dubai.

On Thursday night a further screenshot showed N184m (£333,000) had been sent in less than two days, and Davido hinted at a possible show in Lagos.

Many fans posted screenshots showing transfers of a few dollars in appreciation for his almost decade-long career of international hit songs and as one of the continent’s biggest pop stars.

But some have been fiercely critical, calling the stunt unethical. “Nigeria is a dystopia,” said one person in a series of posts on Twitter. “Someone who isn’t in need encouraging people who are likely in need and who have much less than them to send them money is weird, man. In a country where only a small tiny per cent have up to N500k in their account.”