“My Children Must Marry Yoruba — Even If It’s Yoruba from Cuba or Brazil” – LASU Lecturer Reacts to Davido’s Igbo Roots

A lecturer at Lagos State University, Adeyinka Bello, has stirred conversation online after declaring that all her children, who she describes as “100% Yoruba,” must marry Yoruba partners. Her comments came in reaction to Nigerian music star Davido’s recent statement identifying himself as “Igbo by blood.”

Davido, whose paternal grandmother Esther Nnenna Adeleke was Igbo, had made the comment while responding to criticism from a user on X who questioned his ties to the Igbo community and suggested he would be betrayed by them. In defense, Davido affirmed his Igbo heritage, sparking a wave of reactions online.

Weighing in on the matter, Mrs. Bello took to her social media page on Wednesday, May 21, stating that the singer behaves “typical to type.” She added that her children, regardless of where they find themselves, must marry Yoruba spouses—even if those spouses are Yoruba descendants from Cuba or Brazil.

“I’m thoroughly, 100% Yoruba. No mix. My children are all Yoruba. Awon omomo mi gan must all be Yoruba. Of any tribe. No discrimination when it gets to that. Call me anything you want o. I don’t care,” she wrote.

She recounted a recent encounter with a young woman who visited her office on behalf of a major Nigerian company seeking collaboration with her department. Impressed by the woman’s intelligence and charm, Bello said she was thrilled to learn the visitor bore a Yoruba name. However, upon learning the woman was also of Delta heritage and spoke her mother’s language fluently, Bello admitted it changed her perspective.

“I said Adedamola Adetayo postulations are precise,” she added, referencing the belief that cultural identity can be diluted. “I reckoned, minus 1. Why I would ensure my kids all marry Yoruba. Even Yoruba Cuba or Brazil, they must marry Yoruba.”

Her comments have sparked diverse opinions online, touching on issues of ethnicity, identity, and intertribal relationships in Nigeria.