Davido, the singer of “Stand Strong,” appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” yesterday.
In his interview, the musician mentioned raising N200 million in 72 hours after releasing his account information on social media on his birthday in 2021.
In an interview with Trevor Noah, he stated that he needed to contact everyone he had previously assisted or worked with.
He said, “I started calling famous people…I was like c’mon you know I made a hit song for you last year. I was like everybody that I have helped in one way or the other, that’s why this tour is called we rise by lifting others. I was scared it came up to $600,000 and at this point, I’m like can I keep this?”
However, due to the state of the world, he decided to give it out.
“We know that so much is going on around the world and I was like I can’t be that insensitive and I spoke to my dad who is my mentor and he said ‘you know you can’t keep that money.’ A lot of people were like no keep it, you’ve done so much for the community.”
“We decided to donate all $600,000 to orphanages around Nigeria.”
“I woke up the next day, reflecting on my whole life and how God has blessed me. So we decided to donate all $600,000 to orphanages across the country. Just for accountability, it took months to disburse because we had to know which orphanage is real,” he explained.
“Then I started getting tweets like ‘this dude kept the money.’ Because after that, I bought two more cars. I bought a Lamborghini…that was just my money, though.”
The duo also talked about Davido’s new single “Stand Strong,” as well as his “We Rise by Lifting Others” summer tour in the United States, which celebrates African art and culture through song, dance, food, and fashion.
Raising $600,000
The musician, who turned 29 on November 21, 2021, used his Instagram account to request a million naira donation from his colleagues. Davido asked everyone he had assisted in the music industry to give him money in a video shared on Instagram, which many mistook for a prank.
He said, “We rise by lifting others abi? Me I don dey rise dey lifting others for the past 100 years. So I want to know who my friends are. All of my friends one one million Naira. They said we are 30BG. If you don’t send your own. You out of here. You are gone (sic).”
Nengi, Perruzi, Teni, Adekunle Gold, Mr Eazi, Zlatan, Cubana Chief Priest, and Chike, to name a few, were among the celebs that gave him money.
Akin Alabi, a member of the Oyo State House of Representatives, as well as businessman and socialite Emeka Okonkwo aka E-money and Obinna Iyiegbu aka Obi Cubana, gave him money.
Throughout the fundraising time, Davido updated his Instagram stories with images of transactions and personally thanking everyone who gave him money in the spirit of accountability.
Following the fundraising, the musician proceeded to social media to announce that he had received 200 million dollars from fans and friends, plus an additional 50 million dollars, all of which will be donated to orphans across Nigeria.
To accomplish this, he formed a five-man committee to handle the situation.
In a message sent to his social media on February 15, 2022, the music artist appreciated the committee that was formed to distribute the funds.
“Since its inauguration, the members of the committee have worked tirelessly to ensure that they collate the names and information of the documented and verified orphanages,” part of the statement.