By Eric Elezuo

The saying, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going, applies chiefly to a man, who has justifiably fits the term, ‘The People’s Billionaire,’ as a result of his humanitarian gesture to everything that pertains to life and living. He is Dr. Michael Adenuga Jnr. He is the brain behind the successes recorded at Glo. He is the Chairman, Globacom Group.

Rising from a year that has been replete with economic downturns, where several enterprises and entrepreneurs are counting their losses, Dr. Adenuga has significantly raked in over United States $700 million, to shove up his fortune. A feat, only fit for kings!

According to Billionaires.Africa, a news magazine that tracks the progress or otherwise of African billionaires, Adenuga, in spite of the harsh economic environment, occasioned by policy somersaults of the present administration, has proved that his business acumen supercedes environmental economic variables, giving him the leverage to not only have its head above water, but to smash every available class ceiling of average.

The magazine wrote, “Amid a year marked by currency depreciation across several African nations, including Nigeria, billionaire businessman Mike Adenuga solidified his position among the continent’s wealthiest individuals and the world’s 450 richest people. Adenuga, who built his fortune in telecommunications and oil production, saw his net worth rise by $700 million in 2024, a testament to the resilience and diversification of his business empire.

“As of Jan. 1, 2024, Forbes, the U.S.-based business magazine renowned for tracking global billionaire fortunes, estimated Adenuga’s wealth at $6.1 billion. By Dec. 31, 2024, his net worth had grown to $6.8 billion, ranking him as the 448th richest person in the world. Adenuga’s wealth is anchored in his control of Globacom, Nigeria’s second-largest mobile telecommunications and digital services provider, which boasts over 60 million subscribers.”

Known by so many appellations including the Spirit of Africa for his philanthropic gestures across board, and The Bull, for his resilience and ability to dare the impossible, Adenuga has proved over the years that he is not the regular billionaire. He is of the stock that is not regulated by stock market figures, but by liquid cash. And that explains why his wealth and net worth supercedes whatever figures churned out by any institution, or any position he is placed in the billionaires’ list.

Adenuga is, for all intent and purpose, in a world and class of his own. This is because his business trajectory and personal philosophy are uniquely his, and therefore worthy of emulation.

Sitting atop one of the most cherished and subscribed network, Glo, Adenuga has not only inspired lives, and practically lifted not a few to enviable heights.

Also referred to as The Guru, Adenuga is like the proverbial Iroko tree, who is unlike any other. In terms of humility, pedigree, magnanimity, wealth and portfolio of investments, he is one of a kind.

His story is like a movie: When the Federal Government decided to give indigenous businessmen licences in the dollar-denominated but capital-intensive upstream oil sector, Adenuga was one of those who applied.

Unlike others who sold their licences for quick money, Adenuga was vision personified, and decided to go into full scale prospecting and exploration. The gamble paid off as one of the wells that was being drilled struck oil, making his company, Consolidated Oil, the first indigenous Nigerian company to discover oil in commercial quantity. The epoch making discovery on December 24, 1991, changed many narratives.

Despite his success, Adenuga believes business must have a human face, it must add value, it must have an impact and ultimately, be socially responsible. These are some of the core values that he considers before throwing his money into any investment.

That is not all, he also firmly believes that the world is a field of battle and you must prepare to win, not some time but all the time. He’s a mountain climber like the Tibetan Monk, who believes that you must survive all odds to get to the top.

Incredible tales have been told about his amazing capacity for work. He is known to sleep very little when there is work to be done, and he expects his staff to imbibe the same work ethic. Though generous, he is said to have zero tolerance for incompetence or sloppiness. With him, one must be on their toes every time.

It is therefore, no surprise that his targeted investments and the grace of God Almighty have placed him well ahead of the authentic list of billionaires. His never-give-up spirit is well known and it is this force that has driven him to achieve feats many mortals will think are impossible.

Adenuga has no rival. He is a symbol of endurance, entrepreneurship, extraordinaire and self-made business titan, who is certainly one of the wealthiest black men in the world.

HIS EARLY LIFE

Born on April 29, 1953 to Oloye Michael Adenuga Sr and Chief (Mrs) Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga, the Yeyeoba of Ijebuland, Otun Gbadebo of Ikija and Iyalaje of Ijebu-Igbo, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr was not a silver spoon kid, but his parents were comfortable.

The indigene of Oru, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State was born and schooled in Ibadan. He attended the famous Ibadan Grammar School. He had his university education in the United States. He majored in Business administration with emphasis on Marketing.

While in school, to augment the allowance sent by his parents, he worked as a cabbie (Taxi Driver), putting in many hours of work a week. This culture of back-breaking hard work shaped him for his ambitious business adventures later in life.

HIS FAMILY

Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr is married to Mrs. Titi Adenuga (nee Adewale). She provides the comfort and stability that such an incredibly busy man requires. His children are Oyin, Babajide (Bobo), Paddy, Bella, Eniola, Bimbo, Sade and ‘Niyi Jnr. He also has grandchildren.

HIS BUSINESSES

As soon he finished his studies in the United States, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. returned to Nigeria. His mother was into business, and it was under her tutelage that he began trading. It is probably because of the tremendous impact that she had in his life as Business Adviser that he adored her so much. She passed on in 2005.

Dr. Adenuga Jr, who is the youngest of his parent’s five children, began by selling removable car stereos. Probably sensing his business acumen, he was allowed to run the family saw mill factory in Ogun State.

He began to steadily grow the business. First, he went into the importation of saw mill equipment, then veered into importation of beer eventually hitting it big with his importation of lace.

Recounting those early days, the businessman extraordinaire said he was returning home from a trip in the United States when he missed his British Airways flight and had to fly Swiss Air. On that flight, he was lucky to sit next to the owner of one of the biggest lace manufacturing companies in Austria.

He, it was, who convinced him before the flight touched down to give lace importation a shot. He took this advice and the reward was good. Later, he also went into tomato puree and vegetable oil. He was a sort of Jack of all trades and master of all. By the age of 26, he was already a millionaire.

As he grew older with more financial muscle, he decided to streamline his operations and look for investments in key sectors of the economy to concentrate on. That was how he began to structure the Mike Adenuga Group where he is Chairman.

When General Ibrahim Babangida decided to break the monopoly of foreigners in the oil industry and encouraged Nigerians to participate, Adenuga was one of those who took up the challenge.

His company, Consolidated Oil applied for and was granted some oil blocs. It was a very risky decision and even his mother advised him against it. He spent over $100 million on evaluation, interpretation and drilling. His courage and tenacity paid off when Consolidated Oil became the first Nigerian company to explore, discover and produce oil in large commercial quantities. Now called Conoil Producing Limited, it is currently the leading indigenous oil and gas exploration and producing company in Africa.

Years later in year 2000, he bought over the moribund National Oil and Chemicals Company (NOLCHEM), taking over the government’s majority shares. He has since injected fresh funds into the company and rechristened it Conoil Plc.

Conoil Plc has over 450 retail outlets all over the country and is the acknowledged leader of development in modern retail outlets such as mega stations and non-space pumps in new-look retail outlets. It is the market leader in aviation fuels.

Adenuga’s most ambitious project yet is in telecommunications. His company, Globacom is the Second National Operator in the country. The first is the government-owned NITEL. It is obvious that with Globacom, Adenuga is not interested in short-term profit, he is there for the long haul and of course, his desire is to give Nigerians and Africans world class telecommunication services.

When he launched the network, he was two years behind the others, Adenuga’s entry strategy was to be innovative and aggressive. He waged a price war, democratized and demystified telephone services. Today, the ultimate risk taker has taken Globacom from the nadir to the zenith of the industry.

Glo was the only operator in Africa to launch its operations on the superior 2.5G network which enabled the convergence of voice, data and multimedia technologies.

But more importantly, it launched operations on Per Second Billing, thus ensuring subscribers only pay for actual time spent on a call instead of the practice of billing customers N50 per minute even when the call cuts off at just 2 seconds. It also crashed the cost of SIM card from N30,000 to N6,999 and later N100, thereby making it possible for low income earners, students and artisans to own GSM lines today. It is now one of the most recognizable brands across the continent.

The network currently has over 60 million subscribers, and is the most preferred network in Nigeria, with a vast network of already laid fibre crisscrossing all parts of the country.

The Globacom network comprehensively covers over 400,000 communities, all the 36 states and all major highways. Globacom has highly successful subsidiary networks operating in other West African countries.

Reputed to be very hands-on in the operations of his businesses, Dr. Adenuga, whose daughter, the cerebral Mrs. Bella Disu is the Executive Vice Chairman, Globacom, still gets briefs on the day-to-day running of his business empire.

Glo 1 – This is the only solely-owned high capacity submarine cable with connection to the USA and running from the UK through African and European countries. It has been and continues to be a huge commercial success at the heart of the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

It is remarkable that it is a Nigerian company that has pulled off this ambitious project. One of Adenuga’s close associates said the idea of building a submarine cable berthed when the entrepreneur went on a business trip to Paris, the French capital, sometime around 2008.

While there, he found out that telephone calls to Nigeria were epileptic unlike the connection between France and other parts of Europe. When he made enquiries about what could be done to solve the problem, he was told it was to have an international submarine cable. There and then, Dr Adenuga decided to build Glo 1, and the rest is now history. The project is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit and foresight of ‘The Guru’.

Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr also has vast holdings in the banking, real estate and infrastructure sectors of Nigeria.

It is not hard to imagine that Adenuga is the richest man in Nigeria, and indeed Africa, and of course when one quantifies wealth in terms of liquidity, and not stocks. He is unmatchable.

HIS SUPPORT FOR SPORTS

His passion for giving is not only personal, the culture has also been imbibed by his companies especially Globacom. Through Globacom, he became the biggest supporter of football in Africa.

For so many years, the company supported the development of Nigerian sports through the sponsorship of the Nigerian Premier League and the national football teams of Nigeria when no other corporate organisation wanted to touch the assets.

Globacom spent billions of naira in developing the Nigerian league and clubs, and this culminated in Enyimba Football Club winning the prestigious Champions League twice in a row, while the Super Eagles won the Nations Cup in 2013.

In that same 2013, the company signed a N1.9 billion deal with Nigeria’s league Management Committee. The company also did same for other associations and major leagues in Africa.

Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. also started a football revolution with the sponsorship and transformation of the yearly Glo/CAF Footballer of the Year Awards. He is the undisputed pillar of sports in Africa.

HIS GIANT STRIDES IN CULTURE AND CREATIVE INDUSTRY

Nigeria’s entertainment industry has also received a massive boost through Adenuga’s love for the arts expressed through Globacom.

No company in the nation’s private sector in the last two decades, has consistently invested largely in Nigeria’s entertainment industry like Globacom Limited.

Adenuga’s vision is reflected in Glo’s youth-driven ecosystem. There is no strata of Nigeria’s entertainment industry that you will not find the signature of Glo on it: from music to acting to comedy to sports, etcetera, the list is long.

Glo has come to be regarded as a network of stars. No corporate organization has had the kind of constellation of entertainment heavyweights as it brand ambassadors as Globacom. All through the years, the cream of the country’s musicians, footballers, literary icons, actors, actresses and comedians have either be signed on as brand ambassadors or featured in the company’s commercials.

Some celebrities who have graced Glo’s Hall of Fame include: King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Osita Osadebe, Oliver d’ Coque, Prof Wale Soyinka, Yusuf Maitama Sule, Nelly Uchendu, Onyeka Onwenu, D’Banj, MI Abaga, PSquare. Others are Rita Dominic, Ini Edo, Juliet Ibrahim, Matter Ankomah, Davido, Wizkid, Flavour, Gordons, Basketmouth, I go Dye, Teniola, Brother Shaggi, Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Osaze Odemwingie, Joselyn Dumas, Michael Essien, Anthony Joshua, etcetera.

The most recent in the list of Glo’s ambassadorial list is Ime Bishop Okon, better known as Okon, a favourite comedian among entertainment buffs.

While the commercials that featured these stars helped to market the Glo brand and make it a household name, the partnership benefited these celebrities very well as it served as strategic public relations for their individual brands and its attendant financial gains.

So far, no corporate organization has touched the lives of these celebrities like Glo. The advent of Glo has really been a blessing to celebrities in the industry and beyond. The most interesting factor is that Glo is still in the business of investing in the industry despite excruciating economic realities in the country.

This explains Glo’s humongous investments in talent hunt shows in the last eighteen years. It has sponsored shows like: Rock ‘n’ Rule, GloNaiga Sings, Laffta Fest, and the world number one music singing talent reality TV show, X Factor, which birthed in Africa for the first time in 2013.

Others are Slide and Bounce concert, an entertainment tour which went round all the geopolitical zones of the country as well as Glo Mega Music Show and Glo’s Battle of the Year, which gave the winners a life-changing N9 million prize money, a Toyota Hiace bus valued at N25 million and other prizes.

Similarly, the nation’s art and culture have also been positively touched by Globacom. From Ojude Oba in Ijebu-Ode, Ofala in Onitsha, Lisabi in Abeokuta, Imeori in Abriba, Oru – Owerri in Imo state, Afia- Orlu In Nnewi, Anambra State and Abia –Ugwa in Isialangwa in Abia State among others. The company has through sponsoring the festivals not only brought them to international limelight, but has also turned the host cities into major tourist attractions.

HIS PASSION FOR PHILANTHROPY

He is without doubt, the most generous Nigerian alive. He gives ceaselessly and carelessly. He is an angel of mercy; giving is living for him.

Describing Adenuga’s large heart in an article, The Boss Newspaper Publisher, Dele Momodu, wrote “Everyman should wake up and pray to meet and become good friends with the Spirit of Africa. Trust me, it is worth every second of it. Just imagine a man who dashes out the same kind of cars he drives to friends.

“Dr. Adenuga believes that his friends are entitled to the same kind of material things that he wishes for and buys for himself. He has no jealous or mean streak in him in that respect,” he wrote.

Adenuga’s former close aide, Bode Opesietan also stated “Dr Adenuga’s generosity is legendary. He gives personal rewards like no other billionaire. If God has given you this kind of resources, it is not for you and your family alone” he would say”.

Also during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Adenuga was the first to donate N1.5 billion to fight the dreaded coronavirus scourge. He set the stage for other Nigerians to contribute to the management of the scourge. That is typical of the Guru, he leads, others follow.

According to Adenuga “How much money can one individual or his family enjoy? You must spread it and touch lives…that is what brings true happiness and joy. What’s the point if your friend is wealthy and it doesn’t show on his friends”.

There is nothing more to add. When it comes to philanthropy, Adenuga is in a class of his own! Indeed generosity is in his DNA!

HIS PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

Dr. Adenuga loves integrity and loyalty. Because he hardly goes out, he is able to monitor people and events quietly from his desk and home.

Aside from this, He has had to navigate his way through the murky waters of Nigerian politics. Dr. Adenuga avoids and shuns politics like the plague. He does not believe that he must be involved in politics for his businesses to survive or thrive.

All he campaigns for is an avenue to do business on a level playing field because he knows that he can survive and outlast most people. He considers himself one of the fittest and the best, if not the fittest and the best since he is methodical, calculating and highly industrious and energetic, and does not like attracting unnecessary attention to himself or his business.

Among many of his pluses, Adenuga is sagacious, methodical man, and rewards excellence. He does not suffer fools gladly. Most of his offices around the world are open 24 hours.

HIS LIFE STYLE

You can call him an enigma and you will not be wrong. He is a very shy gentleman, a trait that many mistake for arrogance. Before Globacom, Dr Adenuga Jnr was one of Nigeria’s silent billionaires. He was making his money without fanfare. Then came Glo, and he became one of the most recognizable Nigerians alive.

Till date, he hardly attends public functions and even if he does he sneaks in without any fuss and leaves even before the Master of Ceremonies recognizes his presence.

Despite this elusive persona, those who have met him can attest to his ebullient nature. He is one man who catches his fun when he is in the mood. He has very fine and elegant taste. A connoisseur through and through.

Contrary to what many think, he still finds time to unwind most times only in the company of his inner circle of friends and family.

Dr. Adenuga is neither ostentatious or extravagant in his style and dress. For him moderation is the value of life. In the early days, it was obvious he loved safari suits, but these days nice flowing shirts which mostly have his personal crest emblazoned on them are the norm.

Of course like all billionaires, he loves powerful cars, nothing over the top or attention-seeking. And as per flying, he has the accoutrement that fits his jet set, super executive lifestyle, which means he has long forgotten what it looks like to fly commercial.

HIS LOVE FOR FRANCE

Dr. Mike Adenuga has always had a great affection for France, and had long established a cordial relationship with the nation between the recent President Bola Tinubu incursion into French territory. He often visits the country, where he also owns property, and has maintained a productive and valuable relationship with French interests.

It was out of this desire, love and affection for France that he ardently supported the development of Alliance Française in Lagos, in the wish to see that its activities, efforts and initiatives could be enhanced, and its reach and appeal increased.

The brand new, ultra-modern Mike Adenuga Centre was unveiled by French President, Emmanuel Macron in 2019.

It is for this great act and his humongous investments that the French president deemed it fit to bestow on him the country’s highest national honour.

HIS HONOURS ROLL

For his contribution to economies and communities across the globe, Dr. Mike Adenuga has been appreciated with so many awards, traditional titles and honours. The most prominent are the national honours from Nigeria, Ghana and France.

In Nigeria, he holds the highest civilian honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), this honour was hitherto reserved for mostly vice presidents.

In Ghana, he was awarded the highest civilian honour of Companion of the Star of Ghana (CSG). According to  then President John Mahama, who conferred the indefatigable businessman with the honour at a state ceremony: ”You have touched many lives in Ghana. You have provided employment for our teeming youths, artistes, footballers and many more. I am particularly proud of you. This award is our way of a saying a simple thank you.”

The entrepreneur extraordinaire was also decorated with the Chavalier de la Legion d Honnuer (CdrLH),  the highest National honour of France, by French President, Emmanuel Macron.

Explaining why the French Government decided to confer the honour on Adenuga, President Macron, who described the consummate businessman as a true model of Africa, noted that he had contributed immensely to the African and French economy.

A toast to the impressive African treasure, business phenomenon and this generation’s Mr. Consistency.