By Liliian Chinasa Orlando

When Nigerians were in tight rope and were paying through their nose to access some foreign-dominated sectors that had been milking the citizens dry, come Dr Mike Adenuga, who came with a strong capacity to break the jinx hitherto seen by many as impossible.

Through him three things were proven: First, indigenous firms can crack capital-intensive sectors like oil and telecom. Secondly, pricing disruption can democratize access for millions. And thirdly, wealth means more when it builds platforms for others.

These proven engineered the steel-like mind set that has driven the successes of Dr Mike Adenuga business philosophy, thus, it has made him more successful in all his ventures that include but not limited to the following:

Conoil Producing: Upstream exploration and production. One of Nigeria’s largest indigenous E&P companies.
Conoil PLC: Downstream marketing with 400+ filling stations nationwide. Listed on NGX.
This broke the monopoly of foreign multinationals and proved local capacity in capital-intensive oil.
Telecom Revolution: The coming of Globacom.
The 1999 Setback. He paid whopping $20M for a GSM licence via Communications Investment Ltd, but it was revoked by the Obasanjo government. Lost the deposit.
But someone to be discouraged, he made a comeback in 2002, when he Won the Second National Operator (SNO) licence for $200M with Globacom Ltd. Reportedly paid the $180M balance 35 minutes before deadline.

By August 29, 2003, Glo Mobile had been launched, resulting in the disruption of the telecommunication market overnight. With the launch, he subsequently introduced Per-second billing; a system competitors tagged an impossible feat to achieve. But Glo did it, forcing the rivals, MTN & Econet to follow within weeks.
Glo, through the founder, Mike Adenuga, crashed entry costs: this means that SIM cards dropped from ₦20,000-₦25,000 to affordable levels.

For all these impossible innovations in the telecom sector, Nigerins paid him back with massive appreciation by subscribing to Glo network. This identification resulted in aggressive rollout, where over 1million subscribers were recorded in 9 months in 87 towns, thereby giving the company a whopping ₦120 billion revenue in just one year of hitting the market.

Mike Adenuga didn’t relent on the little achievements recorded so far, rather it was such achievements that prodded him to consolidate more in the ever-expandding sector.

So, in 2011, Glo-1 Cable, was lunched. This is the first wholly African-owned submarine cable; costing the company $800M, that runs through 9,800km from UK to Nigeria. This feat gave Nigeria and other West African countries, direct, cheaper bandwidth, which eventually cut reliance on foreign carriers.

Today, Adenuga’s Globacom has become Nigeria’s 2nd largest operator with 60M+ subscribers, operating in Ghana, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, with a nick name of “Grandmaster of Data”.

Dr Adenuga’s business ingenuity does not stop stop with Globacom, as he had other business Interests that include,
Banking: Major stake Sterling Bank.
In real estate sector, he has a significant property portfolio in Lagos, Abuja, London.
In Aviation sector Dr Adenuga has many private jets, that run aviation services for both domestic and international purposes.
Forbes consistently ranks him among Africa’s top 5 richest, with wealth built primarily in Nigeria.

His business style cannot be divorced from his personality. With moniker nick name of “The Bull”, this signifies his relentless, calculated risk-taking approach in doing business.

Dr. Mike Adeniyi Adenuga Jr., GCON, was
born in April 29, 1953 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. His father: Oloye Michael Agbolade Adenuga Sr.was a schoolteacher, while his mother, Chief Mrs. Oyindamola Adenuga, was a prominent Yewa businesswoman who traded in textiles.

He attended Ibadan Grammar School and Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro. For university, he moved to the U.S. where he personally funded himself by driving taxis and working as a security guard. He earned a B.Sc in Business Administration from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and an MBA from Pace University, New York, all in United States of America.

In his return to Nigeria in the late 1970s, he started trading in lace textiles, and distributing soft drinks like Coca-Cola. By age 26, he’d made his first million dollars – displaying the risk appetite and trading instincts that became his trademark.

By 1990, Chief Adenuga received an oil prospecting license from the Nigeria military president, General Ibrahim Babangida’s administration, signalling the purveyor that made the company, Consolidated Oil to struck oil in 1991, in shallow waters of Ondo State – becoming the first indigenous Nigerian company to discover oil in commercial quantity.

Today, Consolidated Oil has expanded to include Conoil Producing, a upstream exploration and production; one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous E&P companies.
There is also Conoil PLC, a downstream marketing company with over 400 filling stations nationwide. Conoil PLC had listed on Nigeria Stock Exchange. This feat broke the monopoly of foreign multinationals and once again proved local capacity in capital-intensive oil.

Through the Mike Adenuga Foundation, Dr Adenuga supports many people by giving extensively. He has also endowed Mike Adenuga Professional Chair at University of Lagos, funds scholarships for indigent students and donates to buildings/facilities to schools.

In the health and disaster Relief, he remains one of the major donors during the COVID-19. He has equally touched lived through his donations to foods disaster victims, and to other national emergencies, which included funding medical outreach programmes in Nigeria and beyond.

Other areas Dr Adenuga has shown significant large heart include sports and culture sectors. Through his company, Glo, he sponsors Glo CAF Awards, and also sponsored Africa’s top football awards for 11 years.
His Glo company remains the major sponsor of Nigerian Super Eagles and league.
The country’s Nollywood, music, and cultural festivals cannot be what they are today without the massive sponsorship they had received from Dr Mike Adenuga, making many of these sports, music and Nollywood legends Glo Ambassadors.

In his home town of Ijebu-Igbo, and other neighboring communities, Dr Adenuga has shown indelible mark through the provision of Infrastructure projects. These are done through quiet interventions for individuals – medical bills, school fees.

Therefore , it is in recognition of his outstanding works in the country, Africa and the world at large that Nigerian government bestowed on him the country’s 2nd highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON. He was also recognized by government of France by honouring him with Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, that country’s highest honor in 2018.
Ghana also bestowed on him the Companion of the Star of Ghana, a national honor.
He was also honoured with African Entrepreneur of the Year, for many times.

Dr. Mike Adeniyi Adenuga Jr., GCON is married with children. He maintains a low profile.

At 73, he remains Executive Chairman of Globacom and Conoil Producing. Divides time between Nigeria, London, and France.

From taxi driver in New York to telecom tycoon, his story is Nigeria’s case study in homegrown capitalism.

Happy birthday, Sir.