Barely
72 hours after Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, joined the
micro-blogging service, Twitter, thousands of Nigerians at home and in
the Diaspora have extended a hand of fellowship to him by subscribing to
his tweets.
As at 5pm on Thursday, the
President/Chief Executive of the pan-African conglomerate, the Dangote
Group, had attracted a followership of over 30,000 users on the social
network.
A check through his Twitter page shows
that his followers are not limited to ordinary Nigerians who make use of
the social service but include serving lawmakers in the National
Assembly, past public office holders, children of past Nigerian leaders,
as well as top shots in the nation’s entertainment industry.
Some of the high profile Nigerians
following Africa’s most powerful man (as declared by Forbes magazine)
include a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; former Governor of Kwara State, and
Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Bukola Saraki;
and Vice-Presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of
Nigeria in the 2011 general elections, Fola Adeola.
Others include a former Chief Executive
Officer of the United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu; daughter of late
military dictator, Sanni Abacha, Gumsu; artistes such as Dare Art Alade,
Dr. Sid, Rugged Man, and Weird MC, among many others.
Surprisingly, despite the huge reception
he received on Twitter, Dangote has yet to deem it fit to reciprocate
the gesture by subscribing to the tweets of any of these Nigerians
following him on the social platform.
In fact, Dangote is not at present
following any Nigerian on Twitter, as he has signified preference for
the tweets of a few of his billionaire colleagues; his manufacturing
conglomerate, Dangote Group; the World Economic Forum and the Kofi Annan
Foundation.
The billionaires Dangote follows on the
social network include the former Chief Executive Officer of General
Electric Corp., Jack Welch; Chairman of the world’s largest
personal-computer software company, Microsoft, Bill Gates; and
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of General Electric, Jeff Immelt.
Dangote’s decision not to follow any
Nigerian is very much unlike some prominent Nigerians who make use of
Twitter. For instance, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who follows
only 26 people on the social network, deemed it fit to follow some
Nigerians.
Although Atiku subscribes to the tweets
of foreigners such as South African President Jacob Zuma, he did not
lose sight of prominent Nigerian users of the social service. As such,
Atiku follows the likes of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola;
former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, as well as entertainers
such as Don Jazzy and Ice Prince.
Meanwhile, Dangote has broken his silence
online, saying he is “glad” to make use of Twitter. In his first and
only tweet, he gave a word of encouragement to many Nigerians who have
been asking him for advice on business success saying, “nothing is
impossible” to those who pursue their dreams with commitment.
“Glad to be on Twitter. Wishing you all a
prosperous New Year. Stay positively committed to achieving your
dreams, nothing is impossible,” Dangote said in his first tweet.
However, it is worthy of note that with
his decision to sign up for Twitter on December 31, Dangote joined the
league of eminent clerics, businessmen and world leaders who signed up
for the social service in 2013.
They include Pope Francis; the 41st
President of the United States of America, George W. Bush; 42nd
President of the United States, Bill Clinton; former US Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton; American business magnate and investor, Warren
Buffet, among others.
Pope Francis, who was elected in 2013 to
lead the world’s 1.6 billion Catholics, became a social media star of
some kind when he began tweeting on March 17. His first tweet stated,
“Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to
pray for me. Pope Francis.” The tweet was reposted by 36,528 people,
while 22,304 others Favorited it.
On December 10, when Bush joined Twitter,
he used his first message to pay tribute to anti-apartheid icon, Nelson
Mandela. He wrote, “Barbara (his wife) and I wish we could have joined
the US delegation honoring President Mandela today. He, and his
countrymen, are in our prayers.”
Also, US President Barack Obama reached
out to Bill Clinton and Buffet who both joined Twitter within days of
each other in May. “Welcome to Twitter, @Bill Clinton and
@WarrenBuffett,” Obama wrote in a Twitter post.
No comments:
Post a Comment