By Oluseyi Kutemi
Happy Birthday to Chairman of Chairmen. An illustrious son of Africa, a great Nigerian and billionaire extraordinary.
From the beginning, he has always been blessed. From fine-tuning the family business to ownership of 2 banks at the age of 36 and his foray into oil industry and telecommunications, Dr. Adenuga has always been smart and clinical in his business style and plans
Starting at Ibadan Grammar School, in Nigeria to Northwestern State University, Oklahoma, in the United States where he obtained first degree and later Master’s degree at Pace University, New York, majoring in Business Administration, he was really preparing for high level business, thus equipping himself ahead.
Each of his companies were nurtured into major players in their sectors. Conoil Producing, the upstream arm of the conglomerate, was the first Nigerian company to strike oil and produce it in commercial quantity while Equatorial Trust Bank and Devcom Merchant Bank were among elite banks in the country.
In telecoms, Globacom became the doyen of the sector with many firsts since it rolled out services in 2003. His investment in real estate is said to be worth over billions of dollars. These companies provide direct employment to thousands of Nigerians and other nationalities.
By 2001 when the Obasanjo’s Administration decided to offer GSM licences to businesses, Adenuga bided for a licence but lost out. However he refused to back out. He returned powerfully later and got a bigger package which today has translated to a national carrier, Globacom. Glo is the only indigenous GSM Company operating in the country and forging ahead of competitors.
Globacom, the telecommunication giant commenced services in Nigeria with panache on 29th of August, 2003. While other networks, which started operations about two years earlier, claimed that “per second billing” was impossible, Globacom under Adenuga leadership outwitted them convincingly with the company offering Nigerians the elusive per second package from the onset, thus forcing other networks to follow suit immediately. This single feat endeared the network to all Nigerians.
20 years on, under Adenuga ‘s astute leadership Globacom has a record of many firsts in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry and has remained a pacesetter in spite of rolling out its services two years after other networks have started operations. Some of the record of firsts include: championing per second billing, first to implement 2.5 G network in Nigeria, first to implement 3G network in Nigeria, first to offer 4 G LTE, first to offer Blackberry solutions in Nigeria and first to launch of submarine cable (GLO 1) which provides efficient and fast broadband internet services.
Today, Glo is a leader in the telecoms sector with about fifty five million subscribers including multinational corporations, decision makers in the public and private sector, students, artisans and those in rural communities connected to the network. These subscribers are enjoying access to high quality products and affordable telecom services.
On social investment, the company has extensively supported the movie Industry in Nigeria (Nollywood) and in Ghana (Ghollywood). Glo was the first telecom company to use Nollywood stars as brand ambassadors, thus re-inventing and rehabilitating aging stars of stage and screen. The company has also emerged a strong supporter of Nigerian music, comedy and acting. This move and many others had empowered African arts and culture. The sponsorship of several cultural festivals in its areas of operation is another aspect of its Corporate Social Responsibilities which has resonated with the people. In addition to these are countless donations and support by Dr. Adenuga in different parts of the country, thus empowering Nigerians in different areas of human endeavour.
Glo sponsorship of literature has set the pace for other telecom companies. It’s sponsorship of Wole Soyinka prize was globally applauded while Glo’s “Evening With WS” event remain the gold standard.
Globacom is also playing a leading role in the country’s march to a digital future with a range of customized and community-driven voice and data connectivity offerings as well as verticalized IT solutions such as E-Health, Smart Cognitive Learning, Smart Energy, Industrial IoT and Cloud Applications.
The company also supported sports, particularly football in Nigeria massively. Both the national teams and the league were for many years under Glo sponsorship. The Supporters’ Clubs were also not left out. It is also remarkable that Glo sponsored without fail, the annual CAF Awards, which celebrates the best footballers and administrators in Africa, (male and female) for a decade. A period in which the award’s stature changed from a mere event to that of a major global sporting gala, attracting top personalities from different parts of the world.
Another outstanding gesture from the guru was in 2013 when he rewarded the Super Eagles who won the African Cup of Nations in South Africa with a whopping $1million and many more.
Globacom also sponsored English Premier League live matches on Supersport for many years, thus giving footballers in Nigeria and other parts of Africa the opportunity to watch live football matches and also follow their football clubs all through the season.
The list is endless!
Dr. Mike Adenuga jnr.(GCON) has raised the bar in virtually all the sectors of the economy. Establishing companies, employing and empowering Nigerians in the process. He has performed creditably well over the years and deserves a standing ovation.
Congratulations, Sir.
