Meet Davido’s Parents: Adedeji Adeleke and Veronica Adeleke

Behind every global music icon is a story rooted in family, and in the case of David Adedeji Adeleke, the Nigerian-American Afrobeats superstar known professionally as Davido, that story begins with two remarkable people: his billionaire father, Adedeji Adeleke, and his late mother, Veronica Adeleke, a scholar and musician whose life ended far too soon.

Davido was born on November 21, 1992, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. He hails from Ede, Osun State, and is of Yoruba ethnicity. He practices Christianity.

His father, Adedeji Adeleke, is a business magnate from Nigeria, while his mother, Veronica Adeleke, who lived from 1963 to 2003, worked as a university lecturer. Davido is the youngest of five siblings and his father’s third-born son. His siblings include Adewale Adeleke, Sharon Adeleke, and Ashley Coco Adeleke, among others from his father’s side.

Davido attended the British International School in Lagos for his early schooling, and at 16, he returned to the United States, where he enrolled at Oakwood University in Alabama to study business administration.

He later dropped out to pursue music full-time, before his father intervened and enrolled him at Babcock University in Osun State, where he eventually earned a degree in music in July 2015. He is 33 years old.

His romantic history includes relationships with Nigerian socialite Sophia Ajibola Momodu, with whom he has a daughter, Imade Aurora Adeleke, born in May 2015; and an American woman identified as Amanda Adeleke, with whom he has another daughter, Hailey Veronica Adeleke, born in May 2017.

He later welcomed a son, Dawson Adeleke, in 2021 with Larissa Yasmin Lorenco, also known as Larissa London, a London-based DJ.

In March 2023, Davido confirmed his marriage to his long-time partner, Chioma Avril Rowland, and on June 25, 2024, the couple held a wedding ceremony at Harbor Point in Victoria Island, Lagos, attended by prominent figures including Olusegun Obasanjo and Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Together, Davido and Chioma had a son, David Adedeji Adeleke Jr., popularly called Ifeanyi Adeleke, who was born in October 2019 but tragically drowned in a swimming pool at his father’s Banana Island residence on October 31, 2022, at the age of three. The couple also welcomed twins in 2023. Davido stands at approximately 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall.

Adedeji Adeleke

Adedeji Tajudeen Adeleke, born on March 6, 1957, is a Nigerian business magnate and president of Adeleke University.

He is also the CEO of Pacific Holdings Limited. He is 69 years old, hails from Ede, Osun State, and was born in Enugu State to Mr. Raji Ayoola Adeleke and Mrs. Esther Nnenna Adeleke.

Adedeji spent his early years with his maternal grandmother in Enugu State before moving to Lagos to begin his primary education. From 1965 to 1970, he attended Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, after which he moved to Osun State to attend Seventh-Day Adventist Grammar School for his secondary education.

He later traveled to the United States in 1976 to pursue higher education, earning a degree in Finance from Western Kentucky University in 1979, followed by an MBA and a PhD in International Business from Pacific Columbia University in California. In 2010, he added a second doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix in Arizona.

His career in business formally began in December 1983 with the founding of Pacific Holdings Limited, initially through Pacific Drilling Company Limited, which focused on geographical surveys, water treatment, and the drilling of boreholes. Over the decades, the conglomerate expanded considerably.

Today, Pacific Holdings operates across industries including banking, education, civil engineering, energy and power generation, manufacturing, agriculture, trading, freight services, gas, and real estate. Adedeji Adeleke has also been actively involved in Nigeria’s electricity generation through Pacific Holdings, contributing a significant share of the nation’s energy supply.

Beyond business, Adedeji has invested deeply in education and humanitarian work. In 1996, he established the Springtime Development Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at improving the lives of Nigerians through education and healthcare initiatives. He also founded Adeleke University in Ede, Osun State, in 2011, an institution that operates on the Seventh-day Adventist philosophy of education. It was on his own initiative that a music department was created at Babcock University to allow his son, Davido, to earn a formal degree while continuing his career.

Adedeji Adeleke has experienced two marriages. His first wife, Dr. Veronica Adeleke, passed away in 2003. During their marriage, they were blessed with four children: Adewale Adeleke, David Adeleke (popularly known as Davido), Sharon Adeleke, and Coco Adeleke. After losing his first wife, Adedeji found love again and tied the knot with Teju Adeleke in 2015. His younger brother, Ademola Adeleke, is the current serving Governor of Osun State.

Adedeji Adeleke’s net worth is estimated at approximately $1.7 billion, cementing his status as one of Nigeria’s wealthiest individuals. His wealth is drawn from his diversified portfolio spanning energy, real estate, banking, and education. Despite being one of the most powerful businessmen in Africa, he is widely regarded as a private man who prefers to let his work speak for itself.

In the years since Davido rose to global fame, Adedeji has remained a steady presence, encouraging each of his children to take an active role within the family’s business empire. All four of his children from his first marriage have been appointed to the board of directors of Pacific Holdings.

Veronica Adeleke

Veronica Imade Adeleke was born on November 23, 1963, in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. She would have been 62 years old today. Known simply as Vero to those close to her, she carved out a quiet but influential life as a scholar, musician, and mother before her untimely death robbed the world of a remarkable woman.

Dr. Veronica Adeleke was a respected academic at Babcock University in Osun State, known for her wisdom and sharp intellectual presence. Her academic journey culminated in a prestigious PhD, and as a lecturer, she made a lasting impact on her students through her eloquence and profound insights. The depth of her contribution to the institution was ultimately honored in a lasting way: after her death, the university’s social science faculty was renamed The Veronica Adeleke School of Social Sciences.

Veronica Adeleke had also founded a band known as David’s Band, which released a few tracks, giving her a musical identity beyond academia. It is a thread that clearly ran into her son. Davido has spoken publicly about inheriting his love for music and entertainment from his mother, describing her as the original inspiration behind his musical journey. His second daughter, Hailey Veronica Adeleke, carries her name as a direct tribute to her legacy.

Veronica gave birth to Davido while living in Atlanta, Georgia, where the family had settled for a period. She was a devoted mother to her children, forming a particularly close bond with young David, who was still a child when she died. Davido was ten years old at the time of her passing, a few months shy of his eleventh birthday.

Veronica Adeleke passed away on March 6, 2003, the very same day as her husband Adedeji Adeleke’s 46th birthday, from what was reported as a cardiac arrest. She was 39 years old. Her death came suddenly and without warning, leaving the family, especially young Davido, to navigate grief at an age when most children are still sheltered from such loss. Over the years, Davido has referenced her in interviews and woven tributes to her into his music, ensuring that a woman who left the stage too early continues to echo through his art.

Her passing did not diminish her legacy. The renaming of Babcock University’s social science faculty in her honor stands as institutional recognition of the mark she made. Through her son’s global reach, the name Veronica Adeleke now carries across continents, a quiet miracle she could never have anticipated from her years in classrooms and recording sessions in Osun State.

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