Ifeanyi: Stop advising Davido, Chioma, psychologists urge fans

…Lawyers, architects speak on childcare, swimming pool safety

It is no longer news that Ifeanyi, the son of popular singer, David Adeleke, aka Davido, and his fiancée, Chioma Rowland, died on Monday, October 31, 2022, after drowning in a swimming pool in the singer’s Banana Island, Lagos, residence.

In the wake of the sad news, several persons have been giving the grieving parents ‘unsolicited’ advice on and off social media.

 Psychologists speak

However, in separate interviews with Saturday Beats, some psychologists have urged fans to stop giving such advice as it could elongate the time it would take them to heal.

A clinical psychologist, Dr Maymunnah Kadiri, said, “As a young couple, it is easy for people to give unsolicited advice to them. People should not tell them things like, they are still young and that they should not cry because they will still have more children. Also, Davido and Chioma should not be told that Ifeanyi is in a better place because God is in charge.

“People are supposed to use more comforting words that can help the couple. People should let them know that they are there for them and should make themselves available.”

Speaking on the stages of grief, Kadiri said, “Grieving is an inevitable part of our lives but there are ways that Davido and Chioma can cope. We have stages of grief. The first stage is that of denial and shock; the second stage is anger; the third is the bargaining stage; the fourth stage is sadness or depression; and the fifth stage is acceptance. It varies from one person to another. It can take hours, weeks, months, or years for some persons.

“However, the first thing is to acknowledge the pain. Denial and shock will make their healing process very long. They should accept that grief can trigger many emotions, sometimes unexpected ones, and the process is different for individuals. Even Davido and Chioma cannot grief in the same way. Chioma may grief longer than Davido because Ifeanyi was her only child. That is one sensitive part. If Chioma does not see Davido in the position that she is in, she may think that he does not care. The pathway to recovery is individualised.”

Kadiri also spoke on different ways the bereaved can heal. She said, “They have to seek a face-to-face support from people who care about them without saying anything and simply listen to them. Also, they must support themselves emotionally by taking care of themselves physically. They should try to eat, bath and sleep. There are certain people who neglect everything if they are grieving. But, if personal hygiene is neglected, it has a way of prolonging the healing process. They should be encouraged not to indulge in sleeping tablets, alcohol or other substances to take the pain away. Those things are not going to work as they will only offer temporary relief.

“They should also recognise the difference between grief and depression. It is okay to go into a depressed mood but it is not okay to go into clinical depression. Clinical depression is when the sadness has been ongoing for a minimum of two weeks, with attendant low energy level, and loss of interest. At this stage, they cannot sit in the house and be getting support from non professionals. That is when we recommend individual grief counselling, couples grief counselling, and family grief counseling so that they can talk about how they feel because emotions are contagious.”

On his part, a professor of psychology, Suleiman Olarenwaju, noted that there was a high possibility that the couple could be blaming themselves for not being around when their son died. Describing Ifeanyi’s death as a ‘national loss’, he said, “Ifeanyi’s death does not just affect Davido; it is a national loss. However, it is also personal because the loss of a child could be psychologically debilitating to the father, mother and the entire family. Aside from the sense of loss, there could also be a sense of blame, saying, ‘I did not do enough to ensure the safety of the child’. The parents tend to feel both grief and guilt.”

Speaking on what the toll the tragedy could have on Davido and Chioma’s relationship, Olanrewaju said, “A child is a strong bond between two persons, and the loss of that child could also weaken the bond between them, especially when they are not married.”

Olanrewaju also enjoined people to allow the couple mourn in their own way, stating that getting married to Chioma would them move on and give birth to other children. He said, “Whether depression would set in or not depends on how they can manage it, and give themselves hope. I hope that their marriage is finalised, so that when they become husband and wife, they can raise more kids.”

Reacting to the obituaries and fake news peddled around that Ifeanyi was still alive, Olarenwaju said, “If people continue to make obituaries, they will only keep reigniting the pain and the sorrow. I am sure that Davido and Chioma will come out of the gloom. They are going to have other children.”

The psychologist added that people should not be forced to mourn in a particular way. He said, “People should not attack one another on social media, because we all cannot mourn in the same way. I noticed that some people were attacking Seun Kuti. I think people should just mourn and move on.”

On the likely legal fate of the domestic staff remanded in police custody, a lawyer, Patrick Oganwu, told one of our correspondents, “The chef and the nanny are still in police custody, and it was said that they are being investigated. If they are found to have been negligent in the discharge of their duties, they will be charged to court.”

Asked if Davido and Chioma could be held liable for Ifeanyi’s death, Oganwu added, “Our law has not developed to that level. The nanny and the cook were trading blames (over who was with the child before his death). It is only until the investigation by the police is concluded that the legal process can be continued.”

Another lawyer, Femi Njoku, stated that though he did not have all the facts of the case, he noted some persons were negligent in their duties of care towards the child which led to the unfortunate incident. He said, “I don’t have all the facts of the case. But from what I have read and heard, it was clearly a case of negligence on the part of those that were supposed to take care of Ifeanyi.

“They can be sued for negligence, either in their private capacities or by vicarious liability to the companies they represent. However, giving it a criminal undertone may not fly because if anybody is accused of committing a crime, it has to be proven in court.

On if the parents could be held liable under the law for their son’s death, Njoku said, “I don’t think they are liable. They had handed over the child to caregivers, who I believe were well empowered to protect the child.”

Swimming pools shouldn’t be easily accessible to children — Architect

An architect, Chris Uloko, stated that swimming pools in private residences should not be easily accessible to children. He told Saturday Beats, “When one designs a house, one of the overriding objectives is to take care of health and safety issues. For instance, the location of a swimming pool should not be accessible to a child. That means there should be control space, before one can get to the pool.

“There are also systematic swimming pool covers that one can use; as well as other preventive measures.

“Meanwhile, drowning is not the only health risk that swimming pools pose. A lot of people keep swimming pool open in their houses for up to one month without changing the water at intervals. Even if a child can swim, there is a risk of the child being infected if the pool is not well taken care of.”

Lagos reacts

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, noted that there were more regulations guiding public pools than private ones. He told one of our correspondents, “I don’t know whether there are rules and regulations guiding domestic accidents, such as people cooking in their kitchen and spilling hot oil on themselves. I am not sure we have government regulations to look at that. However, laws governing people and such cases are universal. If one has money to build a private swimming pool, the government would not kick against it. One just has to tender one’s building plan at the Ministry of Physical Planning. They are the ones who would give approval to such projects. I doubt there is anybody assigned to monitor how people use their private swimming pools. But, when it comes to those in public places, the government can issue guidelines on how such facilities should be used, and the Lagos State government has done that.”

Wizkid, Mavin Records postpone album, song release

Popular singer and one of Davido’s biggest contemporaries, Ayodeji Balogun, aka Wizkid, had deleted tweets announcing his album release shortly after the news of Ifeanyi’s death surfaced online.

He later shared a ‘cryptic’ post of broken heart emojis on his Instagram page. Though he did not add a caption, many people have insinuated that he made those moves to mourn Ifeanyi.

On Thursday, November 3, the singer eventually postponed the release of his new album, ‘More Love, Less Ego’, which was supposed to have been ‘dropped’ that day. Though he did not give any reason for his action, Wizkid stated that the album would now be released on November 14, 2022.

In a similar vein, Mavin Records postponed the release of a single titled, ‘ Won Da Mo’, in honour of the late child. The song, which is off the record label’s forthcoming compilation album had earlier been slated for release on Friday, November 4.

A terse statement posted on social media read, ‘Mavin All Stars ‘Won Da Mo’ release date has been postponed to Wednesday, November 9, 2022.