"He Handed Me His Phone and Charger": Businessman Recounts Rare Encounter with Aliko Dangote
- Steve Babaeko, CEO of X3M Ideas, has shared a LinkedIn post recounting his unexpected encounter with Aliko Dangote at a Frankfurt airport lounge
- According to the businessman, Dangote handed him his phone and charger, and he recounted what happened afterwards
- Weeks after Babaeko posted a photo from the encounter, dozens of people flooded his inbox asking him to introduce them to Africa's richest man
Steve Babaeko, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of X3M Ideas, has sparked widespread conversation on LinkedIn after sharing a candid account of the day Aliko Dangote, Africa's wealthiest man, handed him his personal phone and charger in a Frankfurt airport lounge.
Babaeko recounted that the encounter began on a Lufthansa flight out of Lagos. Upon landing in Frankfurt, Dangote drew an immediate crowd, with passengers stopping for photographs. One mother even handed him her infant, barely five months old, for a photo opportunity.
Source: UGC
How greeting in Hausa broke the ice
The moment that changed Babaeko's day came later in the departure lounge, where he was waiting on a connecting flight.
Dangote walked over searching for a free charging port. Babaeko stated that he greeted him in Hausa and pointed out an available socket nearby. Without pause, Dangote passed him his handset and charger, then walked off towards the fruit section.
"...I was in the lounge waiting for my connecting flight when he walked towards me, looking for somewhere to charge his phone.
"I greeted him in Hausa and pointed him to a free port next to me. Without hesitation, he handed me his phone and charger and strolled off to the fruit section.
"Africa’s richest man handed his phone to a stranger and walked away. At some point the phone rang. Should I take it to him? I decided the caller could wait. When you’re that wealthy, people call back..." he wrote.
At one point, the phone rang. Babaeko considered taking it over but decided to let it ring, reasoning that when you occupy that position in the world, missed calls are returned.
His own boarding announcement came before Dangote made it back, and rather than leave the device unattended, Babaeko went to find him and return it.
The entire exchange lasted roughly thirty minutes.
Dangote: The photo that changed everything
Weeks later, Babaeko uploaded a photograph taken during the encounter. His inbox filled almost immediately, with dozens of people asking him to arrange an introduction to Dangote. The irony was not lost on him: the entirety of his connection to the billionaire consisted of half an hour of phone-sitting in an airport.
In his LinkedIn post, Babaeko used the moment to make a broader point about perception.
"People saw one photo and assumed access. They saw proximity and assumed relationship," he wrote.
"One frame, stripped of context, carrying weight it was never built for."
Reactions trail businessman's encounter with Aliko Dangote
The post drew a wave of responses from professionals and creatives across Africa.
@Philip Igwebuike said:
"This is branding by association; people are largely passive perceivers, so you control meaning by controlling what they see. Two people in a frame together doesn't just show proximity; it signals access."
@Ibukun Ogunsola said:
"Humility is a trait you find in more successful people than most of us expect. The higher they go, the more they seem willing to keep learning."
@Missang Oyongha said:
"It was the Hausa that did it. Based solely on my own anecdotal and personal experience, native Hausa speakers respond with warmth and acceptance to almost anyone who can communicate with them in their mother tongue, regardless of whether you are Hausa, Yoruba, or Efik. Add to this the fact that Alhaji Aliko is reputed to be disarmingly modest."
@Gideon Cobham said:
"I love this. As an actor and filmmaker, I've learned that what the audience sees is only a fraction of the journey. One photograph captures a moment, but never the full story behind it. A valuable reminder for all of us."
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that a lady who visited Dangote Refinery had unexpectedly spotted Africa's richest man, and she shared a video of him.
What Dangote did in mosque
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that an eyewitness had shared what Aliko Dangote did after he arrived late in a mosque.
The individual shared a video on his social media page, which helps to better understand the incident.
In the TikTok video, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, could be seen at a mosque alongside his security details.
Source: Legit.ng
