Timi Dakolo (born; January 20, 1981) is a Nigerian singer. Timi Dakolo emerged winner of the inaugural season of Idols West Africa in 2007. With his victory, he got a recording contract with Sony BMG, in addition to other prizes. 　　Timi Dakolo was born in Accra, Ghana to a Nigerian father, Bayelsa-native David and a Ghanaian mother, Norah, who died when Dakolo was thirteen years of age. Despite being born in Ghana, Timi has a Nigerian passport and does not claim dual citizenship. Timi's grandmother Ateni Dakolo and his aunty Susan Larry, who lived in Port Harcourt raised him, and he credits her as his early singing teacher. So deep was their relationship that Timi declined an offer to move to Lagos with his parents, opting to stay back in Port-harcourt with his grandmother.