Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has urged Nigerian Afrobeat star, Davido, to ignore calls demanding his apology over the controversial music video he posted on his social media platforms.
The Punch reported that the Davido Music Worldwide label boss and his signee, Olamilekan Taiwo, aka Logos Olori, caused a stir online, sparking mixed reactions from netizens following the release of the latter’s new record, ‘Jaye Lo.’
A 45-second clip of the new video posted Friday on Instagram by Davido has since attracted criticism. Many Muslim devotees have labelled the video offensive and are now calling for a retraction while also threatening the artists with a lawsuit.
The controversial scene featured some men depicting praying mallams seen dancing in front of a mosque instead of praying. This dancing act has since been deemed offensive by some Muslim devotees.
Despite deleting the video forty-eight hours after it was posted, some Muslims are still demanding a public apology from Davido.
However, Soyinka in a statement released on Tuesday, said Davido did not owe Muslims an apology.
The Literary icon said former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai had made offensive comments against Christians in the past but was never asked to tender an apology.
He said, “There was nothing to apologize about, and that applied equally to El Rufai’s comments at the time. It should come as no surprise that I equally absolutely disagree with Shehu Sani if indeed, as reported, he has demanded an apology from Davido on behalf of the Moslem community.”
“It wasn’t Davido’s music that lynched Deborah Yakubu, a second-year Christian college student who was killed by a mob of Muslim students in Sokoto last year over alleged blasphemy,” he added.
