Sheila: I Never Told Israel to Quit Davido’s Job — Only to Stop Sleeping on the Ground

Sheila Courage, the estranged wife of Davido’s long-time logistics manager Israel Afeare (popularly known as Israel DMW), has clarified that she never demanded her husband leave his job with the Afrobeats star. Her only concern, she said, was how he conducted himself around Davido.

In a recent question-and-answer session with her friend Ginika, Sheila revisited the public drama surrounding the collapse of their short-lived marriage. She rejected the long-standing perception that she pressured Israel to resign from his role with Davido and that this advice contributed to the breakdown of their union.

“I did not tell him to quit his job. I just told him to be calm and stop sleeping on the ground when he sees Davido. He is big, and he is a family man,” she stated.

Sheila stressed that her comments were suggestions offered as a wife, not an ultimatum to end the professional relationship. She said she never criticised Israel’s close working relationship with Davido. On the contrary, she often supported him from the background, taking photographs and recording videos of his activities.

“I did not criticise his relationship. I made suggestions as a wife, but there was never a point where I said, ‘No, don’t do this, why are you doing this?’ In fact, I was behind the scenes most of the time, taking pictures and doing videos because I saw him doing this and it’s fine,” she explained.

She acknowledged that she had encouraged Israel to develop independent business interests and build a legacy of his own rather than rely solely on his position with Davido. She insisted this advice was about productivity and long-term security, not a demand that he abandon his employer.

Israel Afeare and Sheila Courage married in a high-profile ceremony in Benin City, Edo State, in October 2022. The wedding was attended by Davido and other celebrities. The marriage lasted less than a year and ended amid public allegations from both sides, including claims by Israel that Sheila had accused him of acting like a “slave” to his boss and had used him for financial and social gain. Sheila has consistently denied those accusations, stating she had no problem with him serving Davido and only wanted him to establish something of his own.

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The clarification comes years after the couple’s very public separation, which drew widespread attention on social media and in Nigerian entertainment circles. Davido himself had previously intervened during the crisis, with Israel later revealing that both his boss and Cubana Chief Priest had appealed to Sheila to return home.

Sheila’s latest remarks aim to draw a clear distinction between advice about personal conduct and any supposed campaign against Israel’s employment. For her, the issue was never the job itself but certain behaviours she felt were undignified for a married family man of Israel’s stature.

The couple’s brief marriage and its messy aftermath remain one of the more closely followed celebrity relationship stories linked to Davido’s inner circle. Sheila’s recent comments reopen the conversation while seeking to correct what she describes as a lasting misconception about her role in the events.