Dauda ‘Rarara’ Kahutu, the Kano-based singer, and Davido have engaged in a heated war of words over the Afrobeats star’s outfit during his performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup countdown series.
Davido’s black jacket featured 46 green lapels bearing the names of the 39 pupils and seven teachers who were recently kidnapped in Oyo, along with the inscription “Bring Them Home” on the back, as a public appeal for their release.
In a video shared on Facebook, Rarara, the political singer known for his performances during the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rallies, accused Davido of politicising a sensitive security issue on a global stage.
Speaking in Hausa, he argued that publicising the kidnapping internationally could hinder ongoing efforts by security agencies to secure the victims’ freedom.
“What Davido exhibited was crude behaviour. How can you go and expose Nigeria’s secrets to the world? Why will he give publicity to insurgents?” he said.
“The insurgents kidnapped these students to force the security operatives to release their people, and our government is insisting on not releasing them while trying to free the children. At this critical stage, he went to expose our security issue globally during the World Cup.”
Rarara also claimed that Davido’s action was politically motivated, citing his family’s ties to the opposition party in Osun state.
“Just because his uncle is vying for re-election in an opposition party and Tinubu is in the APC, he printed the names of the kidnapped students and went to showcase them in America,” he said.
“What he did was akin to derobing one’s mother and taking a picture and publicly announcing it in the marketplace. When you have a huge following on social media and give publicity to insurgents, it only makes things worse.
“If a small kidnapper abducts someone and little attention is paid, once a content creator with thousands of followers reposts it, bigger insurgents may become involved, making the situation worse.”
Rarara recounted the kidnapping of his mother, claiming that a public statement by Atiku Abubakar, former vice president, calling for her release, complicated the situation at the time.
“I am a living witness because when my mother was kidnapped, it remained only a few days for her release to be secured when Atiku Abubakar publicly called for her release. Because of that, it took several more days before she was released. So his public statement led to more harm than good,” he said.
Davido, however, responded to Rarara’s remarks by reposting the video on his X page and captioning it, ‘Debido,’ appearing to mock Rarara’s pronunciation of his name.
In a subsequent post written in Hausa, the Grammy-nominated hitmaker called on Rarara to prioritise truth over politics.
“First of all, anyone who truly loves Nigeria will not keep silent about the insecurity plaguing the country, nor will they prevent others from expressing their concerns about it,” he wrote.
“A lack of compassion, putting personal interests first, becoming a political stooge, and prioritising self-interest above the welfare of the people are not things to be proud of. Be patriotic, stop placing politics above the truth, and fear God in everything you do, @kahuturarara.”
The confrontation comes a few hours after Davido and Reno Omokri exchanged heated words on social media following comments the ex-presidential spokesperson made about delays in his diplomatic posting to Mexico.
Omokri also referenced Davido’s outfit for the World Cup concert, arguing that it could negatively affect the country’s image and potentially benefit terrorist groups.
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