Billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote has agreed to appear on Nigerian content creator Adebayo Ridwan’s YouTube programme, Curiosity Made Me Ask, after the host invited him to speak directly to younger Nigerians about his business journey.
The invitation came during a conversation in which Ridwan, popularly known as Bae U Barbie, suggested that Dangote should engage more with young audiences who want to learn about his business and potential investment opportunities.
Bae U observed that many of the billionaire’s previous interviews had appeared on platforms that younger Nigerians might not regularly follow, despite their interest in his company and its planned initial public offering.
“Most of the interviews we’ve seen you have been on platforms that my generation don’t watch,” the content creator said.
Clarifying his suggestion, Bae U said he was not asking Dangote to dismiss his media team but wanted the businessman to make time for a conversation with younger audiences on his show.
“I’m not saying you should sack your media team. No, but you know, when you finish,” he said before asking when Dangote would appear on the programme.
Responding to the invitation, Dangote said young people represented the future and that older Nigerians had a responsibility to share their experiences with the next generation.
“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 businessman stressed the importance of creating opportunities for younger people to learn from the experiences of those who had spent years building businesses and participating in public life.
“So we need to sit down with some of you and discuss our own experience with you,” Dangote added.
He also expressed concern that many young Nigerians might not know enough about the country’s past leaders and historical experiences. He mentioned former President Olusegun Obasanjo, suggesting that younger people might be more familiar with him because he returned to power.
During the exchange, Bae U interjected with a reference to his own interview with the former president.
“Thanks to me. I gave him the platform, sir,” he said.
Dangote agreed that engaging younger audiences should become a greater priority for him, acknowledging their interest in his experiences and achievements.
“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 billionaire also spoke about the support and respect he receives from young people, including during his trips abroad. He explained that people accompanying him sometimes tried to stop members of the public from approaching him for photographs, but he preferred to allow them.
Recalling an experience from his youth, Dangote said he and his grandfather had once met prominent personalities in Washington and asked to take photographs with them. He said the memory influenced his willingness to accommodate people who wanted pictures with him.
Addressing a photograph of himself that had circulated on social media, Dangote rejected suggestions that his comments about being blessed were an attempt to ask for more favours.
“I wasn’t begging for anything. What I was saying, I was just saying that, God, you have overblessed me,” he said.
Towards the end of the exchange, Dangote indicated that he was ready to meet younger Nigerians in an informal setting where they could ask questions about his career, business decisions and path to success.
“We will come,” he said when responding to the invitation to appear on Curiosity Made Me Ask.
He also expressed interest in an open discussion that would allow young people to ask questions about how he built his business and achieved his position in the Nigerian and African business communities.
