By Bola Akinsanmi

Welcome  to the world of a billionaire par excellence and great philanthropist, Dr. Michael Adenuga jr. A special breed who does  his things differently but with class and panache. Generally, a reserved and highly strategic personality. 

He started early and hit his millions early as well. Mike Adenuga has been an exceptional person from the beginning. He became a    millionaire at the age of 26 running a family business, Nicknamed the  bull   his  ascendancy to the the top was due to his tenacity,hardwork and total focus .It was swift and done with utmost precision.  

By mid   30’s   Adenuga  who holds an MBA from Pace University, USA owned two top banks: Equatorial Trust and Devcom and by early forties he had successfully entrenched himself in the nation’s oil industry. Such was the determination of the bull, forging ahead with full focus and conquering businesses along the way.  

Not only did he own these businesses, he administered them with utmost efficiency that saw each of them becoming success stories over a very short period of time.  

Mike Awoyinka is a veteran  Nigerian journalist and his view on the guru is worth quoting here, “Let me start by saying a man’s decision determines his success or failure.  Success is a journey needing God, knowledge, wisdom and gut instinct.  In the case of  Adenuga, his parents’ dream was for him to follow his brother,   Demola’s footsteps to study at the University of Ibadan but he had the American Dream. Unknown to his parents, he was making moves to enter an American University, By the time the admission letter came, Mama had no choice but to let him go. Going to America was  Adenuga’s  best decision.   There he was taught by Prof. West, a marketing guru who influenced  Adenuga’s intellectual evolution and marketing savvy evident in the success story of Glo”.

In 2001 The NCC licensed three GSM network operators, namely MTN, Airtel (formerly Econet Wireless/V-Network/ Vmobile / Celtel /Zain / now Airtel) and MTel. The fourth operator, Glo Mobile, came in 2002 when it was licensed as the country’s second National Carrier. By 2007, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) introduced the unified licensing regime, granted 3G licences to four operators and also licensed Mubadala Development Company as the country’s fifth GSM Operator (it subsequently started operating under the name Etisalat now 9 mobile).

In 2001 Adenuga bid for a licence but   lost out .Like a typical bull that he is, he refused to back out, even when  his ICL had lost $20m.. He returned powerfully later and got a bigger package which today has been translated to a national carrier, Globacom. Glo is the only indigenous GSM Company operating in the country and forging ahead of competitors. It is also operating in Ghana and was until recently in Benin Republic.

On 29th  of August, 2003, Globacom rolled out services with a vision to be the market leading service provider in the country. The company from inception to date has demonstrated its commitment to creating value with its products and services, thus empowering millions of Nigerians in the process.

While other networks, which started operations about two years earlier, claimed that “per second billing” was impossible  Adenuga  outwitted them convincingly with Glo entering the market in a grand style and offering Nigerians the elusive per second package, thus justifying its inaugural pay off line;  people, power and possibilities  and eventually forcing other networks to follow suit to the delight of millions of Nigerians.

With Adenuga  ‘s astute leadership Globacom, in the last 22 years 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 includes ;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.  

The company with millions of subscribers including multinational corporations, decision makers in the public and private sector, students, artisans and those in rural communities connected to the network are enjoying access to high quality products and affordable telecom services.

Globacom has   also remained very committed to social investments in its areas of operation. It has extensively supported the movie Industry in Nigeria (Nollywood) and in Ghana (Ghollywood) with notable actors and actresses chosen as Glo Ambassadors. 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.

In sports sponsorships, Globacom’s impact   is legendary, particularly football in Nigeria and Ghana where the company sponsored the national teams for many years as well as the League. The Supporters’ Clubs in both countries are 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.

Dr.  Adenuga’s support for Nigerian sport is huge and   this been acknowledged by many Nigerians, including former Sports Minister, late   Bala Ka’oje who stated that “National Telecommunications Company, Globacom spent over N3 billion to sponsor the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the then Nigeria Premier League”, He also added that Globacom also paid the salaries of then Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Berti Vogts between 2007 and 2008.

There was also the Glo Soccer Academy which trained  young footballers to kick-start their career in professional football. The finalists of the academy were trained in Dubai Soccer Academy and Manchester United Academy respectively.  Adenuga  also sponsored top Golf tournaments known as Glo Golf Tour West Africa which offered millions of naira to winners. There were also different editions of the Glo Marathon with outstanding prizes for winners.

Also in 2013, sponsorship of English Premier League live matches by Globacom commenced on Supersport. It gave 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 sponsorship of the matches lasted for a decade.

These and many more are the good deeds of the Guru. God bless him abundantly

Happy  Birthday, Sir.

•Akinsanmi lives in Lagos.