Entrepreneur, Sophia Momodu, has opened up about the ridicule and social stigma she faced after becoming pregnant by the singer outside marriage.
Momodu spoke during a side panel at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, in a video shared on her Instagram Story on Tuesday.
Recalling the experience, Momodu said being the daughter of a pastor made the situation particularly difficult because of the stigma attached to having a child outside wedlock in Nigerian society.
“This is my life story. I am a pastor’s daughter who got pregnant out of wedlock by a global superstar. And I was mocked. It was crazy. And I had to find my strength in the midst of all of that,” she said.
“And for the longest time, I didn’t have a voice. I was famous, I was popular, but I didn’t have a voice. It kept getting drowned out by whatever negativity was around that story,” she said.
She said the experience was especially stigmatising in Nigeria because of her background.
“If you’re Nigerian and you’re here, you know that it’s almost a taboo to be a pastor’s daughter and have a child out of wedlock,” Momodu added.
According to her, she later gained the confidence to speak publicly about her experience and discovered that many other women had gone through similar situations.
Momodu said an aunt also once contacted her after someone allegedly asked her to remain silent about the matter.
“And then, an aunt called me one day and said a friend of hers had called her to talk to me to please keep quiet, because this is not a topic that we are allowed to talk about as Black women,” she said.
She said sharing her experience at different forums, including in South Africa, helped her realise that she was not alone.
Momodu said several women subsequently approached her to share similar experiences, which encouraged her to continue speaking about her own story.
“I’m just grateful for the platform, I’m grateful to be able to tell my story, and because of people like Stephanie and these amazing women on this panel, I don’t think I would ever stop telling my story,” she said.
Momodu and Davido, whose real name is David Adeleke, welcomed their daughter, Imade Adeleke, on May 14, 2015. DNA testing later confirmed Davido’s paternity.
The pair were intermittently involved before their relationship ended in 2022, and they never married.
