Part 3: The Day I Met My Favorite Celebrity

The night after the youth talent session, I barely slept. My mind was racing—replaying the encouraging words from the panelist, the warm memory of meeting Davido, and the faces of other creatives I had met that day. I realized something powerful: I wasn’t alone. There were hundreds of young people like me, burning with passion, hungry for a chance, and full of untold stories.

But what made my moment different was that mine had already begun. Davido had remembered me. That small connection had opened a door, and now it was up to me to step through it.

The next morning, I drafted a message to Davido’s assistant, thanking them for the invitation and the opportunity. I didn’t expect a reply, but to my surprise, she responded warmly:  

“You’re welcome, Toluwani. Keep pushing. Davido loves seeing young people go for their dreams.”

That message meant the world to me, 

I decided to make that weekend the turning point of my life. I sat down and planned out my goals for the next three months. First, I would complete and polish my short film script. Second, I’d shoot a small concept video using my phone and edit it myself. Third, I’d build a simple online portfolio to showcase my work.

I called it “Project Toluwani Rise.”

I shared the plan with two of my closest friends, Ayo and Uche. They both had creative skills—Ayo was into video editing and Uche handled audio production. I told them, “Let’s build something together. I want us to create something that even Davido himself would want to share.”

They were on board immediately. We turned Ayo’s room into a makeshift studio. We borrowed lights, used cloths as backdrops, and started filming scenes for my short script.

The story was inspired by my real-life encounter—about a young dreamer who randomly meets his idol and gets one shot to change his life. It was raw, personal, and emotional.

Filming wasn’t easy. We didn’t have a budget, and we had to shoot around school schedules, electricity issues, and noisy neighbors. But every challenge pushed us closer. Every moment of frustration reminded me why this mattered.

We finished filming in two weeks and began editing. Every night, we worked until our eyes stung. We laughed, argued, corrected, and improved. And slowly, our little dream started to take shape.

When we finally exported the final version, we all just sat there in silence, watching it from start to finish.

It was beautiful. Not perfect. But beautiful.

With shaking hands, I uploaded it to YouTube and tagged Davido on Instagram with a short caption:

“Inspired by the man who made me believe dreams come true. This is for you, @davido.”

I didn’t expect him to see it. But I prayed.

The next morning, I woke up to 243 notifications.

Davido had seen it.

Not only did he repost the video on his story, but he also commented:

“Wow. You told this from the heart. Proud of you, bro. Keep going 💪🔥”

My chest tightened. I couldn’t breathe. I stared at the comment for minutes, just whispering, “Thank you, God.”

My phone rang nonstop. Old classmates, distant cousins, people I hadn’t spoken to in years—all reaching out, congratulating, reposting, encouraging.

In one day, the video hit 50,000 views.

Our lives changed.

An online blog wrote a piece: “Lagos Student Gets Recognized by Davido for Heartfelt Short Film.”  
My school posted the video on their official page.