Open Letter: Dear Wizkid, Being A Star Does Not Exempt You From Parental Responsibility

Whether you’re looking within the Nigerian entertainment industry or go a little beyond it to the international scale of things, it’s a consistent trend that many male artistes do not seem to want to let go any time soon.

As with all trends, there are broad similarities between the approaches most of the artistes are taking. They pick up a publicly less known woman who is most likely an illusioned fan, have a one night stand or short affair that does not outlive 3-4 months and voila! babymama drama is born.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule with very few going on to marry the woman and build a family, therefore, sparing us the flying subliminal tweets on Twitter and Instagram. But very rarely.

Instead, we are left with stars like Wizkid and Davido under public scrutiny for their providing not enough attention or financial support to the babymamas. When left to the fans who take it upon themselves to form jury, prosecutor and defense well, things can only become even more dramatic.

Wizkid, who the young millennials have deemed as a modern-day Fela, has broken many figurative glass ceilings, almost more than any artiste of this decade in Nigerian music. Still, he is somehow unable to successfully sort out the care of his offspring and their respective mothers without them forcing him to take address the dilemmas through social media.

While we may want to blame the babymama’s for falling into the web that has existed long since the beginning of entertainment globally – falling for stars – it’s of little relevance to the child that is a product of their brief union. Does the child get to be neglected financially and emotionally by these men who feel more obliged to their fans than them? I disagree.

At the very core of the babymama drama is an innocent child, or children in Wizkid’s case, who has no true understanding of the concept of adult interactions yet is the most affected victim.

Recently Sola Ogudu insinuated in tweets that Wizkid had for the better part neglected their child and as a result, she had been left to play both parental roles to their child. This was while she wished their child, Boluwatife, a happy birthday as he turned 7 years old.

If anything was enough to buttress what Sola was saying it comes in the form of three Instagram posts yesterday by Binta Diallo, whose child Wizkid repeatedly denied paternity of.

She severely threw shade at Wizkid and there was no question of who she referred to either. It’s said that he has only once given her child support in the last 2 years since Ayodeji was born. Also, Wizkid is accused of having little to do with him.

Despite all of the speculations going on and the carnival that they have long since turned social media into, Jada Pollock who is Wizkid’s manager and responsible for his management has yet to say anything negative regarding the father of her child.

Instead, she praised him and his ability to be a good father to their child. Out of the three babymamas, she is still yet the only one never having to publicly complain of his shortcomings as a father. But it’s still early days yet.

Essentially, do stars like Wizkid owe it to their baby mamas to offer some form of support, and what is the extent of that support?

As a parent regardless of your social standing or the circumstances surrounding their birth, you do owe your children the basic emotional support. When it comes to financially contributing to the welfare and upbringing of your child, you are of course held to the standard of providing the necessities any father should. Whether you wish to go beyond that and make provision for more lies completely with your discretion.

Being a star does not exempt you from parental responsibility as Wizkid so clearly believes or as the public so often forgives him for. Hopefully, in the future, we see Wizkid and other stars learn to give more dedication to their kids as they do their careers.