African Billionaire Aliko Dangote Joins Twitter; Gets Verified Before First Tweet

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and Chairman of Dangote Group, has joined micro blogging social network, twitter.

Dangote who joined with the handle @AlikoDangote  on January 1, 2014 was verified within hours of opening his account with barely 2,000 followers at the time. On January 2, 2014, his followers had risen to 31, 807 users. In his first tweet ever, a total of 136 characters, Dangote wished his followers a Happy New Year, while finding space to chip in a nugget for achieving success. Below is a copy of the tweet sent on January 1, 2014:

“Glad to be on Twitter. Wishing you all a prosperous New Year. Stay positively committed to achieving your dreams, nothing is impossible.”

Some of the billionaire’s followers, comprising mostly of Nigerians, have begun sending him tweets with different messages ranging from employment requests to asking for a follow back. Alhaji Dangote follows only seven twitter users as at January 2, 2014, notably Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. Twitter, a popular social network has been instrumental in shaping and forming opinion among Nigerian  youths in 2013.