Yesterday, Davido, our darling songbird announced that he wanted N1m ahead of his birthday and his friends and fans, defied the Twitter ban and have raised over N140m into his WEMA Bank account he dropped in less than 24hours right?

Honestly I am very happy for Davido for his very successful social experiment. I only want to have a word with those who have been scrutinizing, analyzing, criticizing, and compartmentalizing their friends based on those donations.

The rain of money for Davido should not be hinged on saying he has raised people like many have adduced. Without doubt, you can’t be as large as Davido and not raise people either by default or by effort. It should also not be credited wholly to friendship. Because if that is the case, folks like Julius Agu, one of those who broke the ice for contemporary stand up comedy in Nigeria and charted the path for so many others still on stage today, will not cry on TV for failing to raise a few millions when he was in dire health need. Folks like comedian Princess, who has raised so many children not from her womb and availed so many others of her profession a chance to grow, will not cry on her Instagram page that her colleagues she reached out to, couldn’t even share her event link on their timelines. Not to talk of the many other entertainers who also bring joy to our homes everyday but die every other month for inability to pay medical bills.

Davido in one of his early hits, rightly described himself as “Omo baba olowo.” Son of a rich man. He wasn’t blabbing. He was born with the legendary silver spoon and has forged himself into our hearts by dint of hard work, consistency and wealth. And it is the nature of the world to give more to the rich than the poor. There are several reasons for that and I will get there.

Even from our homes, those who have more, get more attention.

In our churches, pastors have more, yet they get more from the people.

Our rich friends get more donations during their celebrations than us, including things they don’t need.

Rich NGOs get more grants than those that are not rich.

Rich corporations and individuals get more loans from banks and finance houses than the poor ones.

Rich people who have no need for burial monies, get more donations for burials than the poor.

Rich people get more donations and wedding gifts than the poor.

When the economy is distressed, rich corporations get bail outs faster than SMEs and poor individuals, if they ever get any.

The banks mop up meagre savings from the poor and give to the rich as loans but will always deny the poor loans.

When government wants to give tax cuts, the rich are favored above the poor.

When government wants to increase income, they favor the rich above the poor.

When rich nations have disasters like the fire that gutted the Notre Dame in Paris, the world donates the most in torrents, even when they know those nations can conveniently deal with the issues, while needy nations continue to grovel.

Davido doesn’t need N1m from the public for his birthday or for anything. He is rich. What Davido did was a successful social experiment to reenforce what I just tried to explain supra. To let you know that the rich will always give more to the rich than the poor.

The rich giving the rich is an investment of sorts. It’s a system to keep them in the upper echelon. It’s them investing in their social status and their visibility matrix. Giving to the poor may be termed charity, but giving to the rich is banking in the rich circle even for their rainy day, if it ever comes; and their relevance.

But hear something, that is because at the top, there is enough space. It’s not crowded. They know themselves. The people there are not many. The bottom is choked. Everyone struggling to succeed. The rat race course. A mad house like a night club house. You may not even get a seat to sit, unless you are a one eyed man in the city of the blind. In the middle, the crowd is lesser but still like a lounge. That’s not where you want to be either. The competition here is suffocating. At the top is where there are few persons and enough space. Strive to be at the top and you will get donations from strangers when you call.

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.