Wole Soyinka defends Afrobeats star Davido in Muslim row

Gifty Owusu-Amoah Showbiz News Jul - 27 - 2023 , 18:52 2 minutes read

Nigerian Nobel-Prize winning writer Wole Soyinka has defended Afrobeats star Davido over a controversial music video which offended some Muslims.

Davido shared a video by another singer signed to his label, which reportedly showed men dancing outside a mosque.

This caused outrage in some Muslim circles, with people tearing down Davido posters, local media report.

Davido has since deleted the video but 89-year-old Soyinka urged him not to apologise.

“I have not seen the clip, but I insist on the right of the artiste to deploy dance in a religious setting as a fundamental given,” Soyinka said.

Several high-profile figures have condemned the video, including former lawmaker Shehu Sani, who tweeted that Davido should apologise because fans were “offended” by the video.

Bashir Ahmad, an adviser to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, wrote to his 1.6 million followers that the content was “absolutely disrespectful hurtful and offensive”.

“We Muslims don’t mix our religion with jokes in any way,” he wrote, especially anything to do with prayers.

On Wednesday morning, two Nigerian media outlets reported that Davido’s manager, Israel Afeare, had apologised on Instagram over the controversial video.

However, the reported apology no longer appears on his Instagram account.

Neither Davido himself, nor Logos Olori, the artiste whose song Jaye Lo was promoted in the video, have commented.