Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has agreed to appear on Nigerian content creator Bae U Barbie’s YouTube programme, Curiosity Made Me Ask, following an invitation to engage younger audiences.
Bae U Barbie, born Adebayo Ridwan, extended the invitation while questioning the billionaire about his media engagements and the need to reach young Nigerians interested in his business and its planned initial public offering (IPO).
The content creator observed that most of Dangote’s interviews had been conducted on platforms that were not popular among younger audiences, despite their interest in investing in his company.
“Most of the interviews we’ve seen you have been on platforms that my generation don’t watch,” Bae U Barbie said.
He clarified that he was not asking Dangote to dismiss his media team but urged the businessman to consider appearing on his show after completing his existing engagements.
“I’m not saying you should sack your media team. No, but you know, when you finish,” he said before asking when the billionaire would feature on the programme.
Responding, Dangote acknowledged the importance of engaging younger Nigerians, describing them as the country’s future while admitting that his generation had not done enough for Nigeria and Africa.
“Honestly, the future that we have is actually you, the youth. We, our own generation, really, we have not really done very well for Nigeria and also for Africa. That’s the truth,” he said.
The billionaire stressed the need for older Nigerians to share their experiences with younger people to help them understand the country’s history and development.
“So we need to sit down with some of you and discuss our own experience with you,” he added.
Dangote also observed that many young Nigerians were unfamiliar with some prominent figures and events from the country’s past. He cited former President Olusegun Obasanjo, suggesting that younger people might know more about him because he returned to power.
Bae U Barbie interrupted to highlight his own contribution to making Obasanjo accessible to younger audiences, saying, “Thanks to me. I gave him the platform, sir,” apparently referring to his interview with the former president.
Agreeing that younger audiences deserved more of his attention, Dangote said he would be willing to engage them through platforms such as Bae U’s show.
“So really, you are right. Going forward, this sort of audience is the audience that we, somebody like me, should actually face,” he said.
The businessman also praised the support and respect he receives from young people, including during his trips abroad.
He recalled that people accompanying him sometimes attempted to stop members of the public from taking photographs with him. However, he said he preferred to oblige those who approached him.
Dangote traced the gesture to an experience from his younger years, when he and his grandfather met prominent personalities in Washington and requested photographs with them.
He said the memory had shaped his attitude towards people seeking pictures with him, despite his status as a billionaire.
The industrialist also dismissed interpretations of a photograph he shared on social media, explaining that his remarks about divine blessings were not a request for more.
“I wasn’t begging for anything. What I was saying, I was just saying that, God, you have overblessed me,” he said.
Dangote subsequently indicated his willingness to join Bae U Barbie on Curiosity Made Me Ask, where younger Nigerians could ask questions about his business journey and the factors behind his success.
“We will come,” he said, accepting the invitation.
He added that he wanted the proposed interaction to be an open conversation in which participants could freely ask how he built his business and achieved his current position.
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