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Tag: Dele Momodu

  • I prefer to remain in opposition as I have been in past 40 years, says Dele Momodu

    I prefer to remain in opposition as I have been in past 40 years, says Dele Momodu

    The Director of Strategic Communications for the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Momodu has stated that he prefers to remain in opposition as he has been in the past 40 years.

    Momodu made the cryptic message after the Supreme Court upheld President Tinubu’s election victory.

    He, however, noted that who want or wish to join the ruling government for “patriotic” reasons are free to do so.

    Momodu, in a post shared via his handle, @DeleMomodu, on X (formerly Twitter) said: “After all electoral processes have been completed and foreclosed, those who want/wish to join the ruling government, for “PATRIOTIC” reasons are welcome to do so, while those who prefer to remain in opposition are also free to exercise their fundamental rights.

    Read Also: No apologies for supporting Tinubu in 2023 election – Wike

    “After all, there’s nothing “unpatriotic” about being in credible opposition.

    “On a personal note, I humbly prefer to remain in opposition as I have been in the past 40 years… GOD bless the Federal Republic of NIGERIA…”

    He further noted that: “The beauty of going to court by aggrieved parties is not always about winning but by deepening our Democratic ideals and enriching our Legal System. What is left now is the academic exercise.

    “The appellants have exercised their fundamental human rights and must be congratulated…”

  • Re: Buhari, Tinubu and the Abdication of Responsibility

    Dele Momodu’s fecund but wild imagination is capable of producing some entertaining prose. But his fulsome inaccurate ruminations are far divorced from political fact. In effect, he has reduced himself to being a tabloid sage, an ersatz wise man who seeks to disguise his cavalier arguments in a torrent of words.

    There is nothing wrong with people having different opinions. That is human nature and thus the very essence of the political craft. However, something is wrong when a person blatantly ignores the plain truth to hoist before the public eye what he knows to be incorrect just to prove a point.  This is more than a matter of style. It is a fault – a lack of connection to veracity. That person becomes more a sophist and a magician of words hoping to bedazzle his reader than a journalist or commenter seeking to educate the people.

    This is the problem at the core of the above-titled article written by Momodu and published on the back page of Thisday edition of Saturday, January 12, 2019. Momodu hinged his article on a false premise, on mis-information and as such the article is not an article befitting a newspaper at all.

    As Momodu seems to be suffering from an acute bout of aversion to the truth, it might help to feed him some reality.

    While inaugurating the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the 2019 election at the State House Abuja on Monday January 12, President Muhammadu Buhari said the party’s National Leader and Co- Chair of the council, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would “take full charge of the campaign”. This is the way he put it: ”…But I must also add that, though we will all be deeply involved, I would like to assure the nation that I will do my part without making governance or my work suffer. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, my co-chairman, will be fully in charge, and is going to be on 24-hour vigil. That is to say, the operational buck of this campaign stops at his table, and I therefore urge all of us in the leadership of this campaign, in the field operations on the campaign trail and in the secretariat to consult with Asiwaju whenever guidance is needed”.

    Online platforms and prominent national newspapers reported the president perfectly, quoting his words without giving it unintended or unwarranted interpretation.  A few days later, however, a bizarre collection of some unknown parties under the aegis of CUPP, Coalition of United Political Parties, purposely distorted the president’s statement. It also warned President Buhari against campaigning by proxy. The Chairman of this group, Obasanjo subaltern, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, contended if Buhari would ask Tinubu to lead his campaign, then he should give way as the presidential candidate.

    This same warped idea was regurgitated by Momodu in his column wherein he accused Buhari of abdication of campaign responsibility to Asiwaju. To him, the fine arrangement worked out by Buhari is a poisoned chalice. He surmised that the APC leader was set up to fail. Let us talk truth to each other.

    Momodu is trying to make a mountain of a grain of sand.  Where in the world does a sitting president make himself the manager of his own campaign? Momodu would have a difficult time identifying where such a thing is custom. For many reasons, such a thing would be a foolhardy thing to do. The responsibility and correct things for any sitting president is to allow trusted allies to manage and coordinate the campaign. A decent and caring president, would devote the greater part of his time to the matters of governance. He will campaign only as the campaign requires. This is not where the bulk of his attention should reside. This is exactly as President Buhari has done.

    Let’s change things around for the moment. I dare say Momodu would be up in arms if PMB had said he was going to devote himself to the campaign and that governance must take a backseat. Momodu would be the first to claim that the president had engaged in another form of abdication of duty.  Thus, the problem is not with the president but with Momodu. He had already put in his mind that he would criticize the president come what may. But this criticism has not weight except with those seeking any reason to say they are against the president. But for Momodu to hold to this flawed position, means he would also have to chastise every president he so often mentions as being great politicians. Kennedy, Obama, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Clinton, all of them must fall by the measure that Momodu now uses.  Again, Momodu has not said anything really bad about Buhari. What he is exposing is that his opposition to the man has led him into the land of the nonsensical.

    Again to help Momodu of this self-induced fog, it may be good to repeat what the president said.  The president clearly said Asiwaju Tinubu, as co-chair of the campaign council, would take charge of the daily oversight of the campaign working in conjunction with the campaign DG and others. PMB would play his appropriate part in such a way that governance would not suffer on account of the campaign. That was gracious in my view.

    The president did not say he would not be on the hustings. He did not stay he would sit back at Aso Rock while Tinubu mount the rostrum in his stead. To put to lie Momodu’s ramblings, the APC held a campaign rally in Bauchi.  Momodu should have the fortitude to tell the public if he saw President Buhari at the rally. Momodu has taken on the aspects of the current occupant of the White House. Both tend to say what they want without due regard to what is.

    Two weeks earlier, President Buhari headlined the South–South kick-off rally in Uyo, AkwaIbom State. Other rallies have been lined up and you will see the president there.

    Momodu can go on and deodorise his candidate as he likes, that is perfectly within his right to do. But he has no right to twist an unequivocal statement to suit his fancy. Again, Tinubu and the APC have made their choice. For Asiwaju, the decision about how the present gains in governance and reform would not be frittered away, but preserved and improved upon for tomorrow and how the future of this country would be better served is clear in this election. Momodu may have a different take on things as is his right. But he does grave disservice to the truth and to the people by uttering falsehoods and by acting like what is normal campaign procedure for a sitting president the world over is somehow a nefarious undertaking in Nigeria. By so doing, Momodu is trying to do more than muddy the water, he is trying to tell us that mud is in fact water. If this is the best he can do for his side, then he has shown that their campaign is one of calumny and not issues. For all the words emitted, nothing but unintelligible noise has sallied forth.

     

    • Rahman, former Editor Thisday on Sunday, is Media Adviser to Asiwaju Tinubu.

     

  • Dele Momodu VS PMB

    Dele Momodu VS PMB

    Dele Momodu is a star wildly celebrated by thousands of his admirers. As publisher of ‘Ovation International’, one of Africa’s most popular celebrity bi-lingual magazines that celebrate human vanity, he is patron to many of these fame and prosperity-seeking youths. For politicians, traditional rulers and others in society who derive joy in celebrating their sense of importance, he is an indispensable ally whose friendship is widely cultivated. As the author of a weekly Thisday back page column called “PENdulum” where current affairs and issues in Nigerian politics are critically examined, he is highly regarded   by many of his admirers. Above all, as a former presidential candidate, he is to many youths especially those who have been taken hostage by the social media, the hope for tomorrow. For all the above reasons and more, when our multi-talented Dele Momodu speaks, it is incumbent for us to pay attention.

    He recently, in an open letter, advised President Buhari ‘to quit while the ovation is loudest’. His reasons:  non-performance and a sudden realization that Buhari’s administration is worse than that of President Goodluck Jonathan, his predecessor in office. Of course we can advance many reasons why President Buhari should go and take a well-deserved rest and hand power over to a younger person as Mandela did not too long ago in South Africa were our circumstances to be the same.  But comparing Buhari with Jonathan is odious, just as a charge of non-performance is not supported by available fact.  Momodu’s motive therefore is not only suspect, his current intervention raises the question as to whether his politics is not just an extension of what he does for a living – celebration of ego.

    This was brought to play in his open letter to President Buhari. The letter for instance opens with a celebration of his own sense of importance. He first reminded Buhari about how valiantly he fought on his side during his 2015 presidential contest against Jonathan; he took pains to present the president with a compilation of his articles as proof.

    And opening his assault, Momodu said he “never expected that our situation could ever get worse under the APC government that almost literally promised heaven and earth”. Momodu’s verdict finds parallel only in the claim of some of his followers on social media that Buhari has failed because the $1000 sent home by those who managed to escape the hell that is Nigeria fetched them N360, 000. Momodu doesn’t seem to believe there is a need to tighten our belt and become self-sufficient in things we can produce following the collapse of price of crude oil, the major source of our foreign earnings, from Jonathan’s all time high  of $120 per barrel to $35 in the world market. It is most unlikely, Momodu will not understand that the only alternative to enduring some pain now in expectation of a better tomorrow, is a path that leads straight to Venezuela especially since the return to Jonathan profligate years he is craving for is no more an option.

    It is also hard to believe Momodu actually thought Buhari “truly possessed the magic wand and talismanic effect to make all our problems evaporate and vamoose in a jiffy”. But if he did, it must have been a serious error of judgment on his part.  This probably misled him to dissipate energy campaigning for Buhari, an endeavour he now regrets, when he could have cast his lot with our prosperity prophets, the only people millions of Nigerians look up to for life of bliss without work, a luxury the Jews – the chosen people who labour daily to turn desert into farmlands – do not enjoy.

    Momodu also has an axe to grind with President Buhari for allowing a ‘cabal’ to hijack his government. As he put it: “We definitely want you to succeed but it seems some demons are desperately determined to make you fail by all means”. But Momodu could not have suddenly forgotten that when Pa Bisi Akande first identified the presence of this cabal in Buhari’s government, a section of the media labelled him a Yoruba irredentist fighting Yoruba war. And instead of Momodu joining the crusade against those harbouring anti-Nigeria agenda back then, he chose to lionise Buhari, claiming he won the election on his own merit as if Nigerians did not know he had tried and failed three times before a coalition of some disparate political interest groups swept him into power in 2015.

    Momodu also says Buhari’s administration is “directionless”, blaming this on the quality of his appointees. “The quality of your appointees in recent time points to how directionless your government has finally become”, he says. He doesn’t seem to think much of some of Buhari’s shining stars in FIRS, Customs, Nigerian Ports Authority, EFCC etc.

    Momodu at the end made it clear he was withdrawing his support for the president.   “Your Excellency”, he declares with brutal finality, “it has become very difficult, if not impossible to defend the excessive shortcomings of your government”.

    I am however not sure if Buhari, a leader who prides himself on his righteousness will see Momodu’s threat beyond self-promotion by a man who lives on celebration of vanity. He will remember it was not too long ago that Momodu lionised him and more or less proclaimed him a messiah.

    As a final shot, he predicted defeat for Buhari in 2019 if his advice is not heeded, claiming Buhari has nothing to “tell and sell to the electorate this time, particularly after the colossal failure of the last three years”.

    Now Buhari’s supporters have taken the battle back to Momodu, using his major platform-the social media which has become abuzz with a unique campaign copy, targeted at the private fears and anxieties of Nigerians.  “Now that they say you have failed, dear PMB, they plead: “come May 2019, give them back their corruption, their terrorism, their thieving military Generals, their Tompolos,  Dokubos,  Shekaus and their corrupt judges”etc.

    And now the battle line seems clearly drawn. While Momodu’s nostalgic craving for the return of PDP was apparent from his virulent attack,   Festus Keyamo, claiming he was ‘one of those who fought to oust PDP and its bad ruling system’, has said a call for change is a call for “a return to culture of misrule of the past, executive recklessness, impunity, leadership visionlessness, indiscipline and irresponsibility and merciless looting of the resources of Nigeria”. In the absence of a third order political system, the only option according to him “is to continue to engage the present one for better delivery of government services and improvement”. Unlike Momodu, for him, Buhari’s government “is still a lot better compared to the past one”.

  • June 12: Dele Momodu to speak at COSON House

    June 12: Dele Momodu to speak at COSON House

    The much talked about new COSON House will, on June 12, play host to media personalities, artistes, political activists and young people in a symposium themed: “June 12 and the Lessons of History”.

    According to a statement by the management of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the Guest Speaker at the occasion is Bashorun Dele Momodu; a key figure in the June 12 movement and Publisher of Ovation International magazine.

    “Also at the event, there will be plenty to eat and drink as the Glitterati of Nigeria bubbles and shuffles to the music of KASI, the red – hot power-bike riding star singer born on June 12, 1993, the very day Nigerians in the east, west north and south of the country trooped to the polls to elect Moshood Abiola as President of Africa’s largest nation in the annulled election considered by many to be Nigeria’s freest ever,” the statement reads.

    The second attraction for the day, apart from Momodu, a quintessential journalist and motivational speaker, will be KASI who also shares a history with June 12.

    “The enchanting multi-talented June 12 girl who can write songs like no other, sing like no other, dance like no other, draw like no other and create fashion like no other, has promised everyone coming to her special birthday event that they are guaranteed a memorable experience.  The June 12 damsel says that she will be joined by several of her friends to thrill the guests to scintillating music at the new COSON House Arena with its array of unbelievable audio-visual installations, the statement adds.

    The event will be hosted by Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman of COSON and CEO of TOPS, the company managing KASI.

     

  • COSON to honour late MKO Abiola on June 12

    COSON to honour late MKO Abiola on June 12

    Mr Chibueze Okereke, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), has said that the organisation will honour late Chief MKO Abiola on June 12 at the new COSON House, Ikeja.

    Okereke told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that the honour would be in form of a lecture.

    The title of the lecture will be: “June 12 and the Lessons of History.’’

    He said that the Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Mr Dele Momodu, would deliver the lecture.

    “Dele Momodu, who was a key figure in the June 12 Movement will give an historical account of that day.

    “He will be speaking to a top selection of the media, artists, political and human rights activists and young people,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that on June 12, 1993, Nigerians voted for the then Chief MKO Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic party (SDP) against Chief Bashir Tofa of the National Republic Convention (NRC).

    The then military president, Gen, Ibrahim Babaginda, annulled the presidential elections held on JUne 12, 1993 adjudged by local and foreign observers as the most credible in the annals of Nigeria.

    NAN also  reports that MKO who was detained by another military head of state, Gen. Sani Abacha for attempting to reclaim his mandate, however, died on July 7, 1998 during the regime of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    Abubakar succeeded Abacha after his death on June 8, 1998.

  • Dele Momodu prays for Tiwa and Tee Billz

    Since the commencement of the Tiwa Savage/Tee Billz marriage saga last week, quite a number of Nigerians have lent their voice to the situation. Publisher of Ovation magazine, and ace journalist, Dele Momodu, added his voice to that of other well-wishers praying for the former showbiz couple. In his Instagram post of Wednesday, April 4, Momodu prayed for the couple, enjoining them to forgive each other as nothing is impossible.

    “I pray God heals the deep wounds sustained by Tiwa Savage and the love of her life Tunji Balogun during this difficult moment,” he wrote.

    Continuing his post he counselled the couple on forgiveness, and urged all well-wishers to continue to remember them in prayers. He said, “Nothing is impossible if they are both willing and ready to forgive each other. We should put them in our prayers.”

  • Davido/Sophia: Ola Balogun flays Dele Momodu’s reconciliation claims

    Davido/Sophia: Ola Balogun flays Dele Momodu’s reconciliation claims

     
    As the dust raised by the child ‘abduction’ saga involving Hip hop star, David Adekeke,  aka Davido and his erstwhile lover and mother of his child, Sophia Momodu is about to settle,  Nigerian filmmaker, Ola Balogun has continued to probe Dele Momodu’s involvement in the matter.
    Momodu, Publisher of Ovation magazine and Sophia’s uncle had told The Nation on Thursday that the two families, after a ‘marathon meeting’ have decided to ‘move forward together’.
    This development followed the appearance of Davido, on Wednesday, at the office of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and related offences, to clear his name of the child ‘abduction’ accusation brought against him by the mother of his child.
    Davido was said to have denied the allegation of abduction, saying he was only taking the baby to the American Hospital, Dubai, for treatment, following alleged cannabis infection from her mother.
    This was just as Sophia is demanding for the original copy of the purported medical report indicating she that she tested positive to cannabis, as uploaded online by Davido recently.
    Sophia who has denied that she takes cannabis has written the Clina-Lancet Laboratories, demanding the original copy of the result purportedly issued by them. 
    In a letter written by her lawyer, Gbolaga Ajayi, of S. O. Ajayi & Co, and dated January 5, Sophia said she saw the result of the purported medical test for the first time on the Internet.
    “Our client gained knowledge of this pathology report that your company issued concerning her for the first time on the social media on Sunday, January 3, 2016. We have our client’s instruction to request you to promptly furnish her with the original copy of the pathology report, as the said report was never given to her.
    “In view of the sensitive issues that have emanated from the said report, which are still trending on social and print media, we have our client’s instruction that you should also provide a detailed report on the process/procedure that your company adopted in carrying out the medical check on our client, which yielded the report that was issued about our client by your company,” says the letter.
    However, Balogun who, in  letter earlier written to The Nation, took sides with Davido after reading the singer’s account of the incident was decried by Momodu who claimed that the filmmaker’s position on the matter was partial and made out of personal vendetta.
    Momodu described Balogun’s input as a malicious attack on him and Sophia without caring to find out what led to the present debacle. “I had the highest regards for Dr Balogun and had always responded to his calls and text messages to my London line most times. I wish to apologise to him publicly if I have not been able to attend to his certain demands but it is regrettable that he would retaliate through this vengeful manner,” he said.
    According Momodu, “It is disheartening that while many well-meaning Nigerians have stepped in to intervene in the face-off between music superstar Mr. David Adeleke, aka DAVIDO, and the mother of his baby Ms Sophia Momodu, my cousin, a senior citizen and film-maker, Dr Ola Balogun, has chosen to cast aspersions on me for reasons best known to both of us.”
    Feeling slighted, Balogun, in another letter to The Nation wants Momodu to come out clear on his suggestive statement, saying; “I am not at all amused by Dele Momodu’s insinuation that I am somehow engaged in some kind of vendetta against him…I hereby challenge Mr. Dele Momodu to PLEASE publish for public consumption whatever he claims are “demands” that I supposedly addressed to him.”
    Insisting that the Momodus have no have no right to demand being carried-along in the travel plans and purported treatment of the child, Imade, Balogon said, “I note that he has so far failed to produce any evidence that he or his wife have ever made any contribution in cash or kind to young Imade’s upkeep.
    “The issue is: What gives Mr. and Mrs Dele Momodu the right to intervene in the life of a child whose upbringing and welfare they have never been known to make any contribution to?
    “Dele Momodu should please address this central issue and stop throwing around meaningless phrases like “family reconciliation”.
    “Who is reconciling who and for WHAT purpose?”
    Meanwhile, it is not clear yet, whether or not the litigations will be dropped following the recent family intervention, as Momodu said he couldn’t spell out details yet because, according to him, “we need to clear out some cobwebs.” 
  • Davido/Sophia: Dele Momodu replies Ola Balogun

    Davido/Sophia: Dele Momodu replies Ola Balogun

    •As families move to reconcile issue

    As more and more family members step in to reconcile the rift involving Hip hop star, David ‘Davidi’ Adeleke and mother of his child, Sophia Momodu, over allegation of child ‘abduction’, Publisher of Ovation magazine and uncle to Sophia has responded wittily to Ola Balogun’s attack of his person in the saga.

    It is disheartening that while many well-meaning Nigerians have stepped in to intervene in the face-off between music superstar Mr. David Adeleke, aka DAVIDO, and the mother of his baby Ms Sophia Momodu, my cousin, a senior citizen and film-maker, Dr Ola Balogun, has chosen to cast aspersions on me for reasons best known to both of us,” Momodu said in a statement released on Wednesday.

    Balogun had maintained that the Momodus have no right to demand being carried-along in the travel plans and purported treatment of Imade because according to him, they had played no role in the upbringing of the child.

    Momodu described Balogun’s input as a malicious attack on him and Sophia without caring to find out what led to the present debacle. “I had the highest regards for Dr Balogun and had always responded to his calls and text messages to my London line most times. I wish to apologise to him publicly if I have not been able to attend to his certain demands but it is regrettable that he would retaliate through this vengeful manner,” he said.

    He however said that although he expected Balogun to play a part by joining to reconcile the issue, “elders like him have brokered peace between the families and by the grace of God we should have good news sooner than later,” revealed, adding that “Dr. Balogun should please bury whatever animosity he has against me and join others in reconciling the families instead of pouring petrol into the conflagration…”

    Meanwhile, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and other related matters has confirmed the appearance before it, of Davido and Sophia over the allegation of child abduction claimed by the latter in a petition written by her lawyer.

    Davido was said to have denied the allegation of abduction, saying he was only taking the baby to the American Hospital, Dubai, for treatment, following alleged cannabis infection from her mother.

    Sophia who has denied that she takes cannabis has written the Clina-Lancet Laboratories, demanding the original copy of the result purportedly issued by them, indicating she tested positive for cannabis.

    Davido had uploaded a medical report online, purportedly issued by the laboratory indicating that Sophia was infected with cannabis.

    In a letter written by her lawyer, Gbolaga Ajayi, of S. O. Ajayi & Co, and dated January 5, Sophia said she saw the result of the purported medical test for the first time on the Internet.

    “Our client gained knowledge of this pathology report that your company issued concerning her for the first time on the social media on Sunday, January 3, 2016. We have our client’s instruction to request you to promptly furnish her with the original copy of the pathology report, as the said report was never given to her.

    “In view of the sensitive issues that have emanated from the said report, which are still trending on social and print media, we have our client’s instruction that you should also provide a detailed report on the process/procedure that your company adopted in carrying out the medical check on our client, which yielded the report that was issued about our client by your company,” it reads.

  • Davido/Sophia: Dele Momodu replies Ola Balogun

    Davido/Sophia: Dele Momodu replies Ola Balogun

    It is disheartening that while many well-meaning Nigerians have stepped in to intervene in the face-off between music superstar Mr. David Adeleke, aka Davido, and the mother of his baby Ms Sophia Momodu, my cousin, a senior citizen and film-maker, Dr Ola Balogun, has chosen to cast aspersions on me for reasons best known to both of us.

    In a well-circulated comment he made in newspapers and on social media, Wednesday January 6, 2016, Dr Balogun maliciously attacked Sophia and I without caring to find out what led to the present debacle. I had the highest regards for Dr Balogun and had always responded to his calls and text messages to my London line most times.

    I wish to apologise to him publicly if I have not been able to attend to his certain demands but it is regrettable that he would retaliate through this vengeful manner. Though I bear the same title of Bashorun with my late mentor Chief Moshood Abiola, I’m just an ordinary journalist of very modest means.

    Let me assure Dr Balogun that elders like him have brokered peace between the families and by the grace of God we should have good news sooner than later.

    Dr Balogun should please bury whatever animosity he has against me and join others in reconciling the families instead of pouring petrol into the conflagration.

    Dele Momodu.

  • Child abduction palaver: My side of the story- Davido

    Child abduction palaver: My side of the story- Davido

    When the second trimester of Sophia’s pregnancy was closing, she tortuously announced to me that she was in the family way.

    My mind was bemused, and so was my soul confused. But I quickly realized that nothing more could be done to alter my status as a father-to-be. I knew that i was not ready to be a dad. Still, I adjusted myself to the realities of my new situation and the consequences of my past personal indiscretions.

    I made the determination that I was going to be a good dad. I also reasoned that my blunder is not enough pretext to make me a husband. I was just 21. And so I decided to be a responsible dad without being husband to the mother of my baby. I never was in love with Sophia neither was marriage ever in the offing.

    Without knowing for sure that I was the real dad of the baby, I entrusted Sophia to the services of a private hospital for both pre-natal and post-natal medical cares. An apartment at Lekki was leased for 2 years, and paid for by me. The burden of medical bills, feeding, transportation and sundry costs rested on my person. No family member of Sophia including Uncle Dele Momodu rose to help nor guide Sophia

    I own my property at Lekki and had allowed Sophia to stay in the house because she claimed that she knew nobody in Lagos and that her father was deceased whilst her mother was resident in Abuja. For real, Sophia was a drifter without a dime, education nor career.

    My compassion, ignorance, naivety and poor judgment had combined to make me a victim to a much older lady with super cunning sense that was mixed with a vicious and diabolical nature. I stand accused but calmly accepted my responsibility for the sad misadventure that caused me to be a seat-mate with Sophia on a plane that was flying nowhere.

    All along, I have only been generous with Sophia without knowing for sure I was the father to the baby she was carrying. On May 14, 2015, Sophia delivered her baby named Imade. It was after Sophia had delivered the baby that DNA testing medically confirmed that I was indeed the biological father of our child named Imade.

    Once this status was obtained, Sophia started to apply maximum financial demands on me. I bought all the baby things and fully furnished her apartment. Sophia knew well how to spend money and yet contributed zero to the vast expenses that I incurred. None in her family contributed even a fake coin to the cost of having Imade.

    Uncle Dele Momodu, now the pompous moralist, never visited Sophia nor even delivered an ordinary greeting card to Imade nor to her mum. Throughout the many months that Sophia stayed at my house when she claimed she has no family in Lagos, Uncle Dele Momodu and his bossy wife never showed up at my house to say hello to either of us.

    When the going was good, Sophia had told me plenty things about her uncle Dele Momodu that I need not repeat here. And she never invited me to go with her to visit him and I don’t have the knowledge that she ever visited him throughout the time she stayed in my house. She always explained that a visit to Uncle Dele was needless and unnecessary. Uncle Dele Momodu never liked, and still does not like Sophia. He is now just grandstanding because Sophia had a baby for a fairly prominent family and famous Davido.

    The case of Mrs. Momodu baffles me even more. Why did she not think it necessary to move to Sophia’s apartment to help her out and show her the tricks of motherhood when Imade was newly born. Not once did she visit Sophia and her baby until December 2015. She gave neither care, love nor financial support to Sophia.

    Now, at 7 months old, and a child with special medical needs, Mrs. Momodu rushed to the Lagos Airport to make an awful botch of her standing as a mother: Mrs. Momodu certainly not a good person. She put time and energy to prevent my daughter and I, the real father of Imade, from travelling aboard to keep an appointment with the American Hospital, Dubai. At the point of dying in November, 2015Imade had been rushed to this medical facility in Dubai, where she received helpful and adequate treatment, and was duly returned to Nigeria, without any side excursions.

    What then suddenly propels the fear or dangerous love of Mr. & Mrs. Momodu for Sophia? I deeply sense this couple never loved Sophia nor her late father. They also resent her mum, and probably are jealous that Sophia ever became a mum herself, and thus, wish that Sophia’s daughter who is also my daughter, must needlessly perish.

    Where is the inherent value in a callous human ploy that directly intends to prevent a child from receiving necessary medical care aboard once the biological father, David Adeleke, the child’s grandfather and all my siblings who are uncles and aunties to Imade are booked to fly on this essential medical trip to which we have attached a restful family vacation? Sophia ain’t a member of our family, period.

    SURELY, SOPHIA WAS NOT WITH IMADE WHEN SHE FIRST VISITED DUBAI, AND YET IMADE WAS PROMPTLY RETURNED TO NIGERIA. AND NO ONE SAID SOPHIA CANNOT COME TO DUBAI EXCEPT THAT I DECLARED THAT I DON’T WANT THE TRIP TO SEEM LIKE A SPOUSAL GET-AWAY. SOPHIA AIN’T MY WIFE AND I REFUSE TO LET ANY ACTION CONSPIRE TO MAKE US LOOK LIKE A COUPLE. SHE SEEMED UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO PAY HER WAY TO DUBAI. ALSO, HER BOASTFUL UNCLE, ALAS, REFUSED TO VOLUNTEER TO PAY HER WAY TO DUBAI. I NEVER SUGGESTED TO AN ELDER WHAT HE SHOULD TAKE UP AS HIS PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IF INDEED HE CARED AT ALL FOR SOPHIA AS HIS ROBUST INVOLVEMENT IN OUR ODD RELATIONSHIP WISHES TO ESTABLISH.MRMOMODU NEVER BOUGHT THE TICKET BUT WANTED TO ENFORCE HIS COSINE TO JOIN MY FAMILY ON THIS DUBAI TRIP.

    Mr. Dele Momodu should just leave me and my family alone! His daughter is not who had a baby for me, and he has been too much of an absentee uncle to Sophia to have any traction on the moral authority that commands the soul and heart of this matter. Sophia Never formally introduced him nor his wife to me, at anytime. Why are they now crowding my space and that of my daughter?

    Custody, Lifestyle and Imade’s Loss of Wellness

    In May, the same month Imade was born, Sophia settled in her fancy apartment for which I paid a hefty bill for a 2 year lease. Her baby was healthy. And she seemed happy.  I would take care of all the financial needs of Imade and still pay Sophia a living allowance of 300,000 Naira plus utility bills.

    Within a matter of weeks, Sophia missing and lusting for the streets of Lagos, especially the glitzy night life. She often left Imade home for clubbing, binge drinking and a life of debauchery and deviant living. She would sleep all day and party all night. When awake, she was addicted to the telephone and cannabis. She paid the baby no attention at all and seems to despise motherhood and parenting.

    Imade was in her custody for2 straight months, unchallenged and uninterrupted, until the baby took badly and severely ill in July. Imade cried, ceaselessly, for 48 hours. She was rushed to the hospital where her condition confounded medical experts. Several tests were conducted on her and later on the mother. Medical reports, herein attached(exhibit 1), proved that Sophia’s blood was polluted to the maximum level with cannabis and she had by the process of breast feeding infected her child with complicated medical conditions associated with the use of alcohol and especially cannabis. The trouble spot for Imade was her lungs. She had difficulty breathing largely because of the contaminated breast milk and the severity of the “Second Smoke” of marijuana inhaled by the poor child.

    Davido Exh 1

    Davido Exh 2

    The medical experts at the hospital were enraged by the callous treatment of Imade by her own mother and declared her unfit for the caring and the nursing of a delicate baby. The team determined that they would hand over the baby to the Children’s Welfare Authority of Lagos State Government. My family started to plead with the hospital management. For the first time, Sophia too was sober, sorry and contrite. We pleaded that the baby would be kept from the mother once she was returned to us, and that we would take over responsibilities for Imade’s welfare.

    Voluntarily, Sophia, in the attempt to avoid the handing over of the baby to the children welfare authority, agreed to a compromise position that she would transfer Imade to the Adeleke family until the cannabis in the systems of both mum and daughter was completely outand comprehensively cleaned out. The medical expert also indicated that the full damage to Imade’s person could not be ascertained right away and that her mental state now or in the future could not be determined nor predicted, until perhaps when she would have attained adulthood. This was why and how Imade was transferred to the custody of the Adeleke family.

    Soonest, Sophia began to make vigorous demands for the brand new car promised to her by me in May. My father stood out of all this matter and pointedly told me, that although I was very young but I was already making big income and therefore must learn to be a responsible adult who takes care of business properly and accordingly. He had instructed since May, that i should provide the mother of my baby with a car, without delay. But I have since had a change of mind on this issue because, of Sophia’s night crawling activities and reckless partying at night clubs. Her clubbing rendezvous escalated. In fact, she had gone to a club on Victoria Island and spent 250,000 Naira in one night. Unashamedly,she told the management of the club to slap “Davido” with the bill. I have refused to pay but till date, the club has never let off the harassment of my person for the settlement of this wild bill. I still don’t believe that my obstinacy will finally absorbed from the payment of this reckless charge. This was one of the main reason I put the purchase of the car on hold

    Meanwhile, Imade was increasingly worse off in wellness and she had to be flown to the American hospital in Dubai. I wrote a letter of release authorizing my sister to travel to Dubai with Imade. The hospital saved Imade who was returned to Nigeria with a medical equipment that had to be used daily to enable Imadeto gain restful sleep and balanced respiratory rhythm. The photograph of this equipment is hereby attached. (Exhibit 2).

     

    Davido Exh 3

    If Imade had not gone to Dubai, it is fair to say that she may not be alive today. Still, some people prevented her from keeping a follow-up appointment at the American Hospital in Dubai.For the silliest possible reason.My family would not pay for Sophia’s flight ticket and thus Imade would be disallowed from traveling for the vital purpose of medical conditions that lend oxygen to her life. Which is more important to Mr Dele Momomdu, the ticket for his cousin or the overall wellness of Imade? And why can’t this glamorous uncle buy the ticket for Sophia so that the life of imade is not compromised?

    The claim has been made that the aborted trip to Dubia was to takeImade to America. This is not true. Imade’s Nigerian passport is right now with the Immigration Office with no American Visa embossed on it and Imade, though qualified to possess an American Passport because her dad is an American citizen, still does not possess an American passport. True,her passport is being processed but the truancy of her mother has caused a major delay. I therefore ask, how will Imade have entered America without a visa on her Nigerian passport? The great dynamics of lying is that the liar is the first to know that he has told a lie, and the lies told would certainly demolish his integrity and the peace of his soul. Uncle Dele Momodu, beware!

    So poor in understanding is the cerebral capacity of your cousin or niece that she cannot even operate the equipment that stabilizes her child’s lungs despite rigorous training offered to her (Exhibit2). She is dismally inattentive. But she is a fabulous cannon fodder for all the frivolities of life. What more can I do for a woman who is not my wife? I am 23. I ain’t ready for marriage or even fatherhood. But I have accepted my responsibilities as my father raised me to understand life and deal with all its challenges.

    The only reason why some of us are dancing naked in the market place today, is because Sophia’s request to go to Dubai on my ticket was declined. She is demanding for her new car and a raise of her allowance to one million naira per month. The sole reason why she’s demanding for the custody of Imade is to justify the necessity for this delusional one million naira. A domestic matter that could have been quietly and sensibly settled has been tossed to the public domain with the brutal consequences to the most innocent actor in this drama, Imade.

    From December 23-28, Sophia lived at my father’s Lekki residence in peace, except for the first one hour when a medication was misapplied by her and Imade speedily vomited for a fearfully long time. Sophia did not know how to even bathe her own baby. She brought a friend to stay with her in a 3-bedroom flat with a resident professional nurse and nanny. Overall, her stay was joyful and in alignment with the thrills of the Christmas holiday season.

    On December 29, less than 24hours of leaving my father’s house, Sophia was at the airport in the company of her uncle and his wife with malice aforethought and the aim to do maximum damage that would obstruct her child from traveling aboard to receive necessary and needful medical care. She was welcome to join us if she had bought her ticket or her uncle had funded her for the trip.

    I offered to buy her a car and suggested a Toyota brand or Hyundai. She lost her cool and told me off. She wanted a fancy jeep and preferably, a Mercedes Benz Jeep. I laughed because she just wanted to be a Lagos Big Girl for nothing. She hardly can cope with the cheapest car much less the ruinous cost of maintaining a Mercedes Benz vehicle. In December she received 500,000 naira as her allowance without doing anything for Imade. Life is not a bed of roses. Neither have I ever promised Sophia a rose garden. Her spontaneous motions of delusions utterly baffle me!

    On her twitter page, she claimed she has recovered Imade from captivity. But Imade never was in captivity. Sophia certainly knows where Imade is. And it is where she left her on December 28, at my father’s house. What is the lie about? Sophia also claimed that she hasn’t seen her daughter in 5 months, this cannot be true. Sophie spent every Sunday with her baby at my father’s house since July 2015 when she voluntarily transferred Imade to the Adeleke family after the cannabis incidence. She and her daughter constantly appear on her face book and twitter pages throughout this period of 5 months. What manner of unreliable and lying person is Sophia.? The picture of your reconciliation with Imade after “captivity” that you posted on your twitter page came directly from the photo shoot that you posed for at my father’s house during your Christmas stay. Why can’t you ever be affable with truth nor have a relationship with honour?

    Uncle Dele Momodu was the first to bring this domestic matter online and onto the internet. Uncle Dele Momodu ran smack into the internet highway on December 30 with Video recordings that he dishonestly, immorally and unlawfully recorded at a government facility and office at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. Uncle, you are wrong and you are not doing the right thing.

    Life is beautiful if we all live in simple ways and do not engage criminal gadgets to replace integrity and honour. Your recordings cannot alter the fact that I am “Davido” father of Imade and it cannot force me to be the husband of your cousin. In truth, I don’t know if you are uncle or cousin to Sophia. Still, Uncle Dele Momodu, it is immoral, unlawful and unethical to clandestinely record anyone, especially friends and family members.

    Late evening on December 30, I responded to your vicious internet publications that attacked me and my family. But my father’s counsel and the love I have for Imade prompted me to recall the arrow aimed at you. You see, my father raised me well, and I promptly complied with his advise. I thus deleted all references to the issue of December 29 at the Airport and apologized to you in particular along with all my fans. I showed you respect even if u had provoked me.

    Instead of reciprocating with love and elderly wisdom, you sustained your attack of me with even more venom and hatefulness. With all due respect for my dad, I am compelled to speak to your lies and your simulation of grand self-importance. I am 23 and you are almost 60. Your cousin has a baby for me. Rather than bring us together as a family, you wished for glowing embers to come out of cool cucumber. This is why you instructed your lawyers to put garbage on the internet in a matter that should be showcased in the court of law. Uncle, who offended you? Is it Davido, Sophia or Imade? It cannot be my late mum after whom I named Imade. Is it my gentle dad?

    I am 23 and a performing artiste that God immensely blessed and I have joyfully made good in the industry. I won’t do this forever, and I shall timely step aside in the nearest future. I have a degree and I am stashing my monies aside so that I can build a decent future for Imade plus my future wife and family. I believe as the bible says, “every good gift is from above”.

    There is nothing better in life than to tell the truth and pray. May God ever stand by me and deliver to me my dreams and wishes. May He also deliver to your own children their dreams and desires. Uncle Dele Momodu, please, please leave me and my family alone even if it is clear, by God’s will, that you can’t do us a thing. As for me, this is the end of this conversation. May God lead both of us to the righteous path.

    I rest my case

    DAVID ADEDEJI ADELEKE

    Esther Adeleke Way

    Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.