ABUJA, Nigeria — All Progressives Congress (APC) star musician Dauda Kahutu Rarara and Afrobeats megastar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, have engaged in a fierce public exchange after the Hausa singer accused the global icon of sabotaging Nigeria’s international reputation.
The high-profile entertainment dispute erupted on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, following a video broadcast shared across Rarara’s verified Facebook page addressing the country’s sensitive internal security secrets.
Okay News reports that the controversy stems from Davido’s headline performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup Countdown Concert at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on June 10. The *Timeless* artist took the global stage wearing a customized leather jacket inscribed with “BRING THEM HOME” on the back and adorned with pins listing the names of over 40 schoolchildren and teachers abducted on May 15 from three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. While the bold human-rights advocacy drew widespread international praise and endorsements from opposition leaders like Peter Obi, it heavily infuriated ruling-party stakeholders at home.
Reacting bitterly to the Los Angeles wardrobe statement, Dauda Kahutu Rarara labeled Davido’s performance as “barbaric” and “foolish,” claiming it actively blocked Nigeria from global economic markets by laundering national security vulnerabilities to the western world. “How can you take Nigeria’s secrets, our internal secrets, and take them to the world? What will you get?” Rarara questioned in Hausa, going as far as to loosely allege that the pop star’s public highlighting of the crisis shared ideological lines with Ansaru terrorists by turning a tragic mass kidnapping into cheap political campaign ammunition.
Rarara claimed the federal government has refused to yield to the terrorists’ demands—who allegedly orchestrated the Oyo raid to bargain for the release of high-profile bandit kingpins currently held in state custody—and maintained that security operations are underway to free the captives. Responding to the heavy backlash, a defiant Davido dismissed the criticism, stating that silence and political bias only deepen national challenges and insisting that Nigerian public figures must never stay quiet when the lives of innocent citizens and young learners are on the line.
