Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has said there is no image to protect about Nigeria if children are still being abducted, defending his decision to spotlight 39 kidnapped children and seven teachers during his performance at a 2026 FIFA World Cup event.
Davido made the remarks in an interview with Focus on Africa host Waihiga Mwaura, shared on Sunday, where he explained why he wore pins bearing the names of the missing victims while performing on the global stage.
According to him, remaining silent about the country’s security crisis in the name of protecting Nigeria’s reputation is unacceptable, especially when innocent children are still unaccounted for.
“A lot of people don’t really want to talk about what goes on in my country simply because they want to protect the image, but there’s no image to protect if little kids are being kidnapped,” Davido said.
The singer said although he was proud to perform at the World Cup event, he could not ignore the reality of what was happening in Nigeria and felt compelled to use the opportunity to draw international attention to it.
“As much as I was happy to do the World Cup, we also have to understand that there are things going on back home in our country, which we have the power to let the world know through our own means,” he said.
Davido said he sees music and stage performances as tools he can use to speak on issues affecting Nigerians, especially when victims remain missing and their stories risk being forgotten.
“When I say our own means, where’s my power? My power is in music, performances. We have these students that have been missing, still not found. So yeah, I use my platform to project what’s re
ally going on.”
