Award-winning singer Tiwa Savage has shed light on one of the most troubling challenges confronting women in the Nigerian music scene — the pressure to give sexual favours in exchange for career opportunities.
Speaking during a panel session at Entertainment Week Africa, Savage recounted personal experiences where she was urged to visit powerful male executives before she could secure certain performance slots.
She also disclosed that she once missed out on a lucrative endorsement because she refused to accompany a company co-owner on a leisure trip.
According to her, the incident revealed how some industry stakeholders prioritized her physical appeal over her musical abilities.
In her words, “I had been told that if I don’t go and see ‘this chairman’ personally, I would not be put on a show. I lost an endorsement because I refused to go to Dubai with a man who is one of the owners of the company.”
Savage added that the experience made her see the reality of the objectification she faced. “That was when I realised that they don’t value my talent but my body, which I was only flaunting as part of branding. It ended up hurting me because that is all they were seeing,” she said.
