From pastor’s daughter to Davido’s baby mama: Sophia Momodu opens up on stigma, finding her voice

• Sophia Momodu says she was mocked after becoming pregnant for Davido outside marriage.

• The entrepreneur says being a pastor’s daughter made the pregnancy especially difficult.

• Sophia recalls how speaking publicly about her experience helped her realise she was not alone.

Imagine being known by millions of people but feeling like you cannot speak for yourself or not being heard even when you try.

That was how Sophia Momodu says she felt after becoming pregnant outside marriage by one of Africa’s biggest music stars, Davido.

Sophia and Davido welcomed Imade on May 14, 2015. Davido, whose real name is David Adeleke, later confirmed through DNA testing that he was the child’s biological father. Their relationship and co-parenting arrangement would go on to become a regular subject of public discussion.

Instead of simply dealing with the reality of becoming a mother, Sophia found herself at the centre of public judgement. And because she was a pastor’s daughter, she says the shame and expectations surrounding her pregnancy felt even heavier.

“I am a pastor’s daughter who got pregnant out of wedlock by a global superstar. And I was mocked. It was crazy,” Sophia said. “And I had to find my strength in the midst of all of that.”

Speaking during a panel on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Nigerian entrepreneur explained why the pregnancy carried such a heavy stigma for her.

“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,” she said.

But the judgement did more than make her uncomfortable. Sophia said it gradually drowned out her own identity.

“For the longest time, I didn’t have a voice,” she said. “I was famous, I was popular, but I didn’t have a voice. It kept getting drowned out, and all of the negativity was around that story.”

In 2024, Davido filed a case at the Lagos State High Court seeking joint custody and unrestricted access to their daughter. Sophia disputed his claims through her lawyers and alleged that she had been responsible for Imade’s welfare. The custody dispute subsequently became another highly public chapter in their complicated history.

Sophia said an aunt once told her that someone had advised her to keep quiet because the subject was not something Black women were supposed to discuss.

“I remember my aunt telling me that somebody told her, ‘Please keep quiet because this is not a topic that we are allowed to talk about as Black women,’” she recalled.

Eventually, however, Sophia chose to talk. She said she shared her experience publicly in South Africa, including on radio stations, and was surprised by what happened afterwards.

“And it was just amazing to see that I was not alone,” she said. “There were so many women that came to me and said, ‘Listen, it happened to me.’”

Those encounters helped her see her experience differently. What had once made her feel isolated was something many other women had also lived through.

Sophia has also previously spoken about experiencing postpartum depression after Imade’s birth and later channelled some of her experiences into advocacy work supporting women and children. The experience eventually inspired her to establish the Precious Jewels Foundation to reinforce her advocacy.

Her speech at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York reveals so much about who she is and less about Davido. We got to see the woman who existed underneath all the headlines.