Davido is looking to borrow one of Bad Bunny’s biggest ideas and bring it to Lagos: instead of taking the concert to the fans, make the fans come to the city.
The Nigerian superstar has announced plans for a Lagos residency in December, saying he wants to replicate the model Bad Bunny used in Puerto Rico. “I’m about to announce my residency too in Lagos this December. Doing the same thing Bad Bunny did,” Davido said in a video.
The idea is bigger than holding several concerts in one city. It is about turning the concert into a reason for international fans to travel.
Bad Bunny’s No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí residency in San Juan demonstrated how powerful that model can be. The 30-date run at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico attracted more than 2.5 million pre-sale registrations and sold about 400,000 tickets, while the first nine shows were reserved for Puerto Rican residents.
The residency also became a celebration of Puerto Rican identity, with the production built around local culture and traditions rather than simply importing a conventional global concert format.
That is where Davido’s Lagos plan could become particularly interesting.
Lagos already has a major advantage: December is effectively a cultural travel season. The city attracts Nigerians from the diaspora and international visitors for what has become known as “Detty December”, with concerts, nightlife, festivals and other events spread across the city.
Davido’s residency could therefore consolidate an existing movement rather than create one from scratch.
Instead of one headline show competing with dozens of other December events, multiple Davido dates could become an anchor around which visitors build an entire Lagos trip — booking hotels, restaurants, nightlife, transport and other experiences around the residency.
It could also change how Nigerian artists think about their home markets.
Davido has already taken his music around the world. His previous 5ive tour included international shows before returning to Nigeria, including a Lagos finale in December 2025. The residency idea goes a step further: rather than constantly travelling to global audiences, bring those audiences home.
The challenge will be execution.
If Lagos wants to capture the full benefit of the model, the experience cannot stop at the stadium doors. Hotels, airports, transport operators, restaurants, nightlife businesses and tourism operators would all need to benefit from the influx.
That is ultimately what makes Davido’s announcement more interesting than another December concert.
He is testing whether Lagos can become the Afrobeats destination in the same way Puerto Rico became part of Bad Bunny’s global story.
