David Adeleke: Chivido24, crown of decade varsity drum of love

“The greatest marriages are built on teamwork, mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace”
—Fawn Weaver

By Omoniyi Salaudeen

Like no other before, the union between the Afrobeat star, David Adeleke, aka Davido, and his heartthrob, Chioma Rowland, remains a talking point in the social and conventional media platforms.
The couple tied the nuptial knot on Tuesday, June 25, in Lagos after dating for over 10 years. Some commentators described the traditional wedding as the biggest event of the year.
And rightly so, considering the crowd of enthusiastic fans, families, friends, and other well-wishers, who converged on Harbour Point in the Victoria Island area of Lagos State to catch a glimpse of what the day would be like.
Apart from the glitz and glamour of the event, the greatest attraction of the day was the large turnout of the crème de la crème of the society.  Notable among these are former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his counterpart in Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, who’s the groom’s uncle; Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti; the Ooni of Ife, His Royal Highness, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, among many others.
On the entertainment front, Don Jazzy and Patoranking were also on hand, electrifying the place with musical interlude. Football star, Victor Osimhen, was not left out. Lagos literally stood still for the carnival-like procession that went viral on the social media.
As widely reported, the love journey culminating in the eventful nuptial ties began in 2013 at Babcock University, Illisan, Ogun State, Southwest, Nigeria. While Davido pursued a Bachelor’s degree in music, Chioma picked a Bachelor’s degree in economics at the institution.
However, by providence, she later became a professional chef.
During the wedding rites, Davido was quoted as assuring the bride’s parents that he would respect and protect her.
That is a huge responsibility on his neck because if the marriage fails, the same masses that trooped out to honour him would be on hand to mock and denounce him.
For coming this far, there is a high probability of the success chance of the relationship. To that extent, he deserves to be given the benefits, for the love he professed had endured for so long before he rose to stardom.
According to available information, Davido is 31, while Chioma is 29 years old. They had nurtured the relationship for an unbroken 10 years.
Most often, celebrities’ marriages don’t last. The death of a relationship is a common occurrence. Everywhere you look a new celebrity couple is breaking up. For so long as the entertainment industry has celebrities, there will always be celebrity breakups.
With every breakup or divorce announcement, fans are bound to speculate the reasons for a celebrity couple’s split because many obstacles can put a strain on their relationship. Gossip, speculations, and online criticism contribute to marriage breakups. Fame, fortune, and career aspirations also put pressure on a celebrity relationship. Every step of a famous celebrity is scrutinised by the public because there’s much to envy about the lifestyles of the rich and famous and the focus is usually on relationships. When celebrity couples sneeze, fans quickly speculate, online criticisms spread like wildfire, and rumours swirl like ocean currents.
That is why some celebrities choose partners significantly less famous than them. Even then, trust, tolerance, and understanding count for the success of relationships. Most times, when there is so much distance due to career engagement as couples grow and evolve apart, they don’t know who they are anymore when they come back together. In the majority of cases, when celebrity couples break up, they cite too much time spent apart as the reason for the split. Excessive time apart can erode the romantic connection with couples. Most relationships that endure come at the price of one partner’s career aspirations or demanding schedule. Therefore, communication is key to maintaining a successful relationship. As a young couple, Davido and his wife have to manage all the time they spend away from each other. They have to agree to travel with each other or they need to have an agreement that while they’re apart, they’re going to communicate daily.
Nowadays, a celebrity getting divorced doesn’t signify a trend anymore; it only highlights how difficult it is for public figures to keep their personal and professional lives in sync. The truth about modern relationships is that it requires a lot of work to keep the goals in alignment.
Relationship experts have suggested that the nature of a celebrity relationship itself is not sustainable.  A New York City-based dating coach and co-author of the women’s relationship site, Sabrina Alexis Bendory, categorically declared that celebrity couples are simply not built to last.
“The nature of being a celebrity is not very conducive to having a long lasting relationship. That’s why it’s shocking when celebrity couples last. It’s not shocking anymore when they break up, it’s shocking when they’ve been together for 15 years. Like, this is a miracle,” he quipped.
For the newest couple, failure is not an option. However, the challenge is a daunting one, particularly for Davido who has over 30 million followers on his Instagram page. Among these is a mass of cynics whose preoccupation is to police them for their errors. For being able to sustain their relationship for one decade, Davido and Chioma have already passed the compatibility test.
Within the period, they have seen some difficult times and persevered. One of those challenging moments was the November 2022 sad incident when their three-year-old son, Ifeanyi Adeleke, drowned in a tragic swimming pool at their residence in Lagos. A lot of insinuations filled the air space, but they survived the trauma. After the incident, in October 2023, Chioma gave birth to twins. The Tuesday’s traditional wedding sealed a decade of friendship and love they have shared.
David Adedeji Adeleke, known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most important Afrobeats artists of the 21st Century for popularizing the genre globally.
He rose to stardom after releasing “Dami Duro”, the second single from his debut studio album Omo Baba Olowo (2012), from which six additional singles – “Back When”, “Ekuro”, “Overseas”, “All of You”, “Gbon Gbon” and “Feel Alright” – were taken.
In 2012, Davido won the Next Rated award at The Headies. Between 2013 and 2015, he released the hit singles “Gobe”, “One of a Kind”, “Skelewu”, “Aye”, “Tchelete (Goodlife)”, “Naughty”, “Owo Ni Koko”, “The Sound” and “The Money”.