Social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, has faced criticism from some Nigerians on X after sharing documents relating to an individual who reportedly bought 1,200 units of Dangote Flour Mills shares for ₦18,000 in 2007.

VeryDarkMan shared what he described as receipts showing the investor purchased the shares at ₦15 per unit, along with documents indicating dividend payments allegedly received in subsequent years.

According to the documents, the investor received ₦324 and ₦216 in dividends in 2009, while another document showed a dividend payment of ₦108 in 2012.

VeryDarkMan later urged subscribers to the ongoing Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO) to watch the video, suggesting the documents offered lessons for those considering the investment.

The post, however, attracted criticism from some X users, who questioned the relevance of the historical investment to the current Dangote Refinery IPO and accused the influencer of discouraging investment.

One user, @kelz_Realist, argued that the experience was not unusual, noting that the 2007–2008 global financial crisis affected investments across the Nigerian stock market.

“There’s nothing new here. The stock market crashed in 2007/08. I was affected. All the shares I bought from major companies, banks, and insurance companies crashed,” the user wrote.

Another user, @ajokpa, questioned the expectations attached to the investment, asking: “How much were you expecting from a ₦18k investment in the capital market?”

@Fortunate0_1 accused VeryDarkMan of discouraging people from investing.

Another user, @odunlamisodiq, said investors were already aware of the risks involved, writing, “Oga rest we don buy we don buy we all knows dat anything for the country na risk either it works out or not it left to us.”

@santos_sure questioned VeryDarkMan’s qualification to offer financial advice, while @EnzoXtra questioned why the influencer was focusing specifically on Dangote.

Another commenter, @User_047, said investors should understand that stock investments carry risks and that returns are not guaranteed.

“Na Black man be Black man problem. People expecting short-term returns or no risk at all should stay away from any kind of Stock (IPO). Stocks rise and fall everywhere in the world; you shouldn’t de-market people’s business,” the user wrote.

@Oluwasheyi45 also questioned whether some people understood how the stock market works, noting that returns depend on company performance and that stocks are not fixed investments.