Author: Boma Al

-Ehi Braimah

What sort of man is Mike Adenuga Jr (MAJr)? Does it sound like a million-dollar question? Don’t worry, let’s get down to it. In answering the question, a biographical account would be appropriate.

Indeed, some great story tellers have produced inspiring pen portraits on him. In 2011, Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe wrote a book on Adenuga who was born 70 years ago on 29 April, 1953.

For a man who is very private and publicity-shy, there’s little he can do in the age of digital technology because information on his family, wealth and fame are available with just a touch of the digital button. A simple Google search will reveal that MAJr is Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr. (CSG, GCON), a Nigerian billionaire businessman and the sixth richest person in Africa. He is also a husband and father.

No matter how much he tries to hide himself, MAJr knows he is a gold fish and he loves everything golden. He has the Midas touch, and his entire life’s history and success story are matters of public scrutiny. Today, he stands tall at 70 years and he must be feeling truly fulfilled and thankful to God because of his long list of accomplishments.MAJr is an exceptional human being and he means different things to different people.

He hardly socialises but he loves the good life. However, he believes in the humanity that thrives, which explains why the story is often told of his immense generosity. Givers never lack and the hand of the giver is always on top, according to the popular clichés.

Sometimes, you can become rich when you are fortunate to be blessed with a family inheritance or when you win a lottery. In MAJr’s case, he did not win any lottery; he built his wealth from the ground floor up through hardwork. Rich and successful people will remind you that when preparation meets luck and opportunity, you can be sure of making your way to the top.

Long before MAJr made his fortune in telecoms and oil (he was the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities), he was already into real estate and merchandising (the import and export business) and he had warehouses all over Nigeria. He would forever be grateful and loyal to former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), his close confidant, mentor and benefactor.

For some strange reasons, Mike Adenuga was caught in a needless political crossfire between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and IBB. What Obasanjo did was to test Mike Adenuga’s loyalty to IBB and he passed the test graciously.

Sometimes, you can become rich when you are fortunate to be blessed with a family inheritance or when you win a lottery. In MAJr’s case, he did not win any lottery; he built his wealth from the ground floor up through hardwork. Rich and successful people will remind you that when preparation meets luck and opportunity, you can be sure of making your way to the top.

Long before MAJr made his fortune in telecoms and oil (he was the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities), he was already into real estate and merchandising (the import and export business) and he had warehouses all over Nigeria. He would forever be grateful and loyal to former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), his close confidant, mentor and benefactor.

For some strange reasons, Mike Adenuga was caught in a needless political crossfire between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and IBB. What Obasanjo did was to test Mike Adenuga’s loyalty to IBB and he passed the test graciously.

IBB did not mince words in the message because he felt grateful to MAJr, his loyal friend of so many seasons. Obasanjo actually wanted to use MAJr to frame IBB for “economic crimes” that did not exist and on that occasion, Baba Iyabo failed spectacularly. On the instruction of Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and at Obasanjo’s behest, the home and offices of the Globacom chairman were invaded; they searched in vain for documents linking IBB as the “owner” of Globacom.

MAJr was in Paris at the time and returned to Nigeria only when it was safe to do so. For those who know IBB, he is very loyal to his friends and he has so many of them – within and outside the military circle.

About 17 years ago, our company was invited to make a presentation on Glo Football Academy. I recall that Segun Odegbami, the popular Nigerian footballer and writer, and Modele Sarafa-Yusuf, former sports presenter at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), were in the presentation room at the Victoria Island head office of Glo. Odegbami and Sarafa-Yusuf worked for Globacom at the time.

Who else was there? It was Mike Adenuga, the chairman himself; he sat and listened to the entire presentation, which he described as “good music to his ears.” It was the first time I was meeting the chairman of Glo but remarkably, he mentioned my name in full before introductions were made. I was surprised because we had never met face-to-face before that day.

Building a formidable network that comes with goodwill is another reason most people succeed in life. If there’s one man who I know is close to Mike Adenuga, he is Otunba Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation magazine, who is also my friend and brother.

Many years ago, Momodu gave me a note addressed to MAJr’s secretary. They had spoken and he wanted me to meet her so that she could link me up to work in the communications departments of Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) and Devcom Merchant Bank.

Mike Adenuga was the owner of both banks and he was in his 30s when he floated them. In 2006, ETB successfully merged with Devcom Bank, while on 11 August, 2011, ETB merged with Sterling Bank. It meant I would have met Adenuga to discuss my possible employment. I knew a long time ago that letters cannot be hand-delivered at any of his offices; no staff will sign for them.

Nine times out of ten (some would say 10 out of 10), MAJr sits at the interview sessions of mostly senior and junior management staff. It shows the extent of his micro-management ability, which some people regard as a weakness but he does not care. His micro-management trait comes from not being able to sufficiently trust people around him.

MAJr puts his money where his mouth is. Once he gives you an assignment, according to insiders, he will be on your case 24/7 to deliver and failure is definitely not an option. Some former employees confessed to resigning because the “pressure from chairman to perform was always too much.”

These are pressures that may affect your health but it does not mean MAJr is heartless. He works round the clock himself; he leads by example and he is not called “The Guru” for nothing. He praises his own his brilliance, which is evident in his business decisions and like a good chess player, he calculates his moves very well.
Mike Adenuga is a risk taker and he is blessed with the ability to craft a vision and get the brightest people in the world to buy into that vision. He also has the skills and networks to mobilise resources to back the vision and make it work.

The billionaire entrepreneur and second richest man in Nigeria, after Alhaji Aliko Dangote, reads voraciously. Apart from being a marketing strategist, he is also a researcher and he equips himself with relevant information and knowledge on his businesses and projects all the time.

When Adenuga launched Glo, he positioned it as the authentic Nigerian telecoms brand. Clearly, he had the financial ability to make Glo successful and he will, as usual, fly over every obstacle, no matter what it takes.

The Glo per second billing was his launch strategy. On top of that, he was able to convince three eminent Nigerians representing the three major nationalities – Professor Wole Soyinka, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Alhaji Maitama Sule-to serve as the faces of the Glo brand. It was not easy convincing the pioneer “Glo Brand Ambassadors” but you can ask The Guru how he pulled it off. That was truly a masterstroke by a genius.

If MAJr has to wake you up in the middle of the night to attend a business meeting outside Nigeria, be ready to head to the airport and jump into the plane. He will tell you that’s what you signed for; you cannot complain.

Our birthday celebrant, “Baba 70”, has a sharp memory and he relies heavily on his instincts. People like him do not forget things easily. It is difficult to reach him as would be expected of rich people; they ring-fence themselves with numerous aides but Adenuga would see you when he wants to. He would simply send for you, or he could even surprise you with a phone call.

MAJr is loyal to his friends, just like his mentor, IBB, and he does not forget them. Constant feedback is important to Mike Adenuga. If he turns his back on you, it means something terrible – perhaps unforgiveable – has happened. He dislikes people who take his goodwill and generosity for granted; he will rebuke his own children for a similar transgression.

When you are self-driven and result-oriented, Adenuga will be fond of you and it will be obvious to everyone in the organisation. You will receive gifts that may include a brand new car, cash or even a house. His mood is also important when he makes those decisions. He is often accused of having an “extreme and dual nature” and “love-hate relationships.” It is another way of saying that he can be ruthless or that you cannot place him.

Those expressions also mean he uses and dump his friends and employees. I cannot prove these allegations but one thing I know for sure is that MAJr can keep you waiting for long hours before you can see him – even for a confirmed appointment. Sometimes, you could wait for the whole day and maybe into the night. This behaviour is described by some people as “weird, wicked and mysterious.” But remember that he is a “lion” and you cannot dare him in his den.

There are also allegations that Adenuga arm-twists his suppliers to their disadvantage and would go as far as re-negotiating contracts already signed or even refusing to honour such agreements outright. The suppliers hardly complain because of reprisal attacks due to Adenuga’s brand power, influence and connections.

When dealing with Baba 70, you have to be extremely patient. What more can I say? Mike Adenuga is also human after all; he has his own fair share of mistakes. With his investment in some sectors of the economy, you can be sure that the Spirit of Africa is not about to retire any time soon as he clocks 70 years.
He has supported sports-especially football-and entertainment events around Africa. Most Nigerian musicians who are now highly sought after and Nollywood celebrities will always remember his Glo endorsements that gave them fame and fortune.

CNN’s long-running series, African Voices Change Makers, is sponsored by Glo in a long-term partnership. He had also provided sponsorship support for Nigerian football and the national teams, as well as CAF Awards – recognising football stars and administrators on the African stage.

There was a time a rival telecoms company was ready to go into a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) but the deal was turned down because of MAJr. I knew at the time that NFF officials wanted the deal badly but their hands were tied.

Now, here’s my Billionaire Challenge Nigeria (BCN) to him: come up with a solution model to fix at least one basic social or economic problem in his home state. The concept of BCN is that every state has at least one successful billionaire who should be able to “pull resources together” and drive the initiative of solving its basic social and economic problems.

One more thing, Mike Adenuga should consider writing his memoirs as soon as possible. His success secrets will inspire millions of African youth and they will be glad to drink from his fountain of wisdom and learn from a genius and great mind like him.

Here’s wishing Mike Adenuga Jr more grace and impactful accomplishments in the years ahead. Happy birthday sir!

-Bode Opeseitan

Prologue
This is a celebration of an exceptional African business icon and enigma from an insider perspective. I have interacted with the billionaire founder of Globacom and Conoil, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr., for over three decades, 16 years of which I worked for him, often at close quarters.

This is an unrestrained chronicling of his unique attributes; with anecdotes and perspectives you probably have never read elsewhere.

The Enigma

It was one of those activity-choked days when his meetings lasted till very late in the night. He had, a few moments earlier, closed his last meeting for the day with senior managers in his signature style. “Well, everyone to himself, God for us all,” he said with reverence, yet commandingly and reassuringly.

With everyone released, he treated the remaining files on his desk, passed them to his secretary and crossed over from his Oval Office at the golden building to his palatial residence, which he fittingly christened Bellissima on the waterfront. Bellissima is an Italian word coined from bella, which means gorgeous, while issima, is an absolute superlative.

Bellissima, the name, absolutely complements the gorgeousness of the immaculate white buildings at the Adenuga villas and their coral-coloured roofs. You would think, at that wee hour, he was heading straight to bed once he got home. No Sir!

Dr Adenuga is genetically fortunate to require only about three to four hours of sleep a day. The influential Wall Street Journal calls his kind the sleep-less elite who need just a few hours of sleep to function normally.

In that mould are the likes of Tim Cook of Apple and former American President Donald Trump. Sometimes, he would make a few calls to give some follow-up instructions or review some aspects of his last meetings.

Then, he would pour himself a glass of one of the smoothest cognacs in the world, relax and journey back to the past couple of hours to dissect his previous day, reflectively.

That, for Dr Adenuga, is a spiritual voyage of sorts where he tries to set matters straight between himself and the people he had encountered. Meditatively, he would ask himself, ‘Was I fair to him? Was she fair to me? Is there any additional value to explore and get a better result beyond the ideas the various teams from Globacom to Conoil Producing, Conoil Plc, Cobblestone Properties and Estate and others presented? How can we optimise our assets?’ He could be at this for up to three or four hours before calling it a day.

That is how the genius mindset of Chairman Adenuga works. Upon deep reflection, if in the previous day there was anyone the Chairman felt he was unfair to, he would make amends, often not in an apology but in voluntary compensatory actions. If there was anyone he felt was unfair to him, he would also take corrective measures. As generous as he frequently is, he doesn’t spare the rod when he needs to make people account for their misdeeds.

Where he acts the fastest is on any matter that could stimulate business growth. He takes whatever action is required to get results, particularly where the opportunity is hot and fresh, even if it requires a trip to the most distant part of the world. There were people in the Mike Adenuga Group who had travelled to the US, Europe, China and other parts of Africa and had no clue they were travelling as close as four to 24 hours before they boarded their flights.

No other business leader I have known can match his mettle when it comes to pulling all the strings to get a difficult result. That perhaps is the strongest staying power of an icon his admirers call the Great Guru.

-Mike Awoyinfa

Exactly 70 years today, Africa’s business guru and entrepreneur extraordinaire, Dr. Mike Adenuga, GCON, came into the world via Adeoyo Hospital, Ibadan, born to Pa Michael Agbolade Adenuga, an educationist and his entrepreneurial wife, Mama Oyindamola whose business genes and can-do attitude the baby will inherit and go on to extraordinarily conquer the world of business.

The arrival of Mike brought unparalleled joy to the Adenuga family. According to Mrs. E.O. Osunsade, Mike Adenuga’s late eldest sister, their parents who got married in 1937 for a long time did not have a boy.

“It took roughly ten years after marriage that the first boy, Demola, came,” she told me while interviewing her for a book on his famous younger brother.

“For them, having a second son (Mike) made them very happy. I don’t know why. Prior to that, my mother had lost some pregnancies. Actually, Mike came in as a gift at a point they were trying to end having children. My father decided to name him after himself. My father’s name was Mike Agbolade.

His son’s name is Michael Adeniyi. As the last child, he was given some extra care than we had. I remember him as a charming, chubby handsome young man.”
Judging from the monumental successes Mike Adenuga, the founder of the Nigerian telecoms brand, Glo has made and the fact that he owned two banks while still in his thirties, some influential Nigerians think, it’s high time Mike Adenuga invited a good biographer-just like Steve Jobs did by inviting one of my mentors: Walter Isaacson, a former editor of TIME magazine and CNN top shot-to objectively capture the story of his life with a view to publishing it into a book that would inspire Nigerian youths to follow in his footsteps and using his success strategies to become the next Mike Adenuga.

-Michael Effiong & Eric Elezuo

There is no better time than now when the entire world stands in awe and admiration as he clocks the BIG 70 to share the inspirational, audacious and tenacious story of Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr GCON,CSG, CdrLH.

His story is better felt than told, better expressed than imagined. Well known but hardly seen, his story is the kind that will be so legendary that an -ism will be added to his name because his business trajectory and personal philosophy are uniquely his-and therefore worthy of emulation.

Some call him The Guru, others refer to him as the The Bull or most recently, the Spirit of Africa, one thing is sure, 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. In any area of business that he plays, he almost always makes significant impact and the facts are there for all to see.

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 bucks, Adenuga, the visionary, 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. Ever since that historic event of Tuesday, December 24, 1991, he had popped many bottles of choice champagnes and sipped some bottles of exotic cognacs to celebrate the execution of many mega deals.

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, you must be on your 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. In the entire continent of Africa, Dr. Mike Adenuga is in a class of his own-and therefore, it is inconceivable to actually put him in the same sentence or list as any of the others. He is without any shadow of doubt, Africa’s hidden treasure.

The reason is simple: Unlike many others whose worth can be calculated via their listed companies and assets, Adenuga’s intimidating wealth is usually in the realm of speculations, they are mostly privately-owned- which is reason he is usually given any position that meets the fancy of the publications.

Ololade Olaoye wrote, “Let us face it, if we count the numbers, dollar for dollar, Mike Adenuga would sweep everyone off the park. But we are in the world of paid narratives and agenda, where you can buy your place on the Rich List and those who already merited their place there don’t mind paying a few bucks to be overvalued. But if you ever become a billionaire, be this one: the billionaire who doesn’t care for the validation of Rich lLsts and the media.

The one who touches lives here and there, far and beyond. And ultimately, the one who’s more about the truth of the matter, than the narratives written by others. We all can’t be the Spirit of Africa but trust me, we can learn a lot from his values and essence.” We concur with this assertion, truth be told, he has no rival.

Let’s then take you into the world of this symbol of endurance, entrepreneur 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.

This close knit family members will be the ones around him today as he celebrates his birthday.

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. Before she passed on in 2005, he dotted on her.

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.