Nigerian-American Afrobeats star Davido is a multimillionaire, notes the Guardian. But that didn't keep him from asking fans for donations this week. And they jumped at the opportunity to help "one of the biggest African stars in the world," per the BBC. The singer with 31.6 million followers across Instagram and Twitter asked fans who believe "I've given you a hit song" over the years to "send me money" in a Wednesday tweet, before sharing his real name (David Adeleke) and bank account number. In a tweet with a lot of laughing emojis, he added he was hoping for 100 million naira (about $243,000) so he could clear his Rolls Royce from a seaport in Nigeria.
Subsequent posts showed the 28-year-old—who has sponsorship deals with Cognac house Martell and laundry detergent company Viva—had received the equivalent of more than $100,000 within 90 minutes, per the Guardian. On Thursday, Davido shared a screenshot showing his account balance had risen to more than 184 million naira, or the equivalent of $448,000. He thanked Nigerian royals and soccer players Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho for donating, "between posts showing him sitting in a Lamborghini and appearing to buy luxury jewelery in Dubai," per the Guardian.
Plenty of onlookers questioned why people much worse off than Davido would send him their hard-earned cash. One Twitter user described Nigeria as a "dystopia," noting only a tiny percentage of citizens "have up to N500k in their account." "The world is really going crazy how can Davido ask fans [for] money,” added another. But one 23-year-old fan told the BBC that he was happy to donate ahead of Davido's 29th birthday on Sunday. "I know he is much richer than me and people [are] saying why would I do that." But "it's rare for a fan to transact with a celebrity" and "it feels like one of my aims has been achieved," the man said. "I did it out of love." (More donation stories.)
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