Akon, the Senegalese-American singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist, recently praised Nigerians for their intelligence and entrepreneurial spirit.
Speaking on the co-hosted Drink Champs podcast, Akon stated that Nigerians are among the smartest people on the planet and produce more billionaires than anywhere else in the world.

This could be debatable, but the Nigerians are the smartest people on the planet. I promise you, there is nobody more smarter than a Nigerian.”
While acknowledging some negative elements in the country, Akon emphasized that Nigerians possess remarkable intelligence, which, if channeled positively, could lead to even greater achievements.

Of course, there is a few bad apples that came out. The bad apples are extremely smart. But they put their intelligence all in wrong place.
If they were to gear that towards something more positive or productive… Because the ones that did, there’s more billionaires being made in Nigeria than anywhere in the world.”
However, earlier this year, Akon faced criticism for making sexist remarks on gender roles during an appearance on ‘The Joe Budden’ Podcast, where he expressed controversial views on the roles of men and women in African societies.
The woman don’t create life, they support the creation of life,
AKON
Men, we’re Gods.
We’re the ones that create life. Let me give you the science of it.
A man right now can create life without a woman…
a woman can’t create life without a man.
If I wanted to create life right now without a woman,
I would just shoot my sperm, put it in an incubator
and just give it nine months…even maybe less
with today’s science … a woman can’t do that.”