Adenuga: 72 honourable years!

IT is that time of the year to celebrate a worthy man of honour, Dr Michael Agbolade Ishola Adenuga, known simply across the world as Dr Mike Adenuga Jr. It is an understatement that his life has positively affected more souls than he himself has ever met in real life over the several decades of his adult life, even though he still dodges public appearance like an introvert that he is.  Truth is that there are fewer opportunities to celebrate this icon beyond his birthday as he is hardly out in the public space to be celebrated as much as he deserves. It is common knowledge that he is hardly seen at events and traditional “Owambe” ceremonies every weekend, like many people regularly do. His sterling contributions to the growth and development of Nigeria’s economy over the past several decades cannot be ignored even by the worst among us. Few people would not frequently remember his brash but patriotic efforts to dismantle economic scavengers who were intent on exploiting Nigerians to the hilt when GSM telecommunications services were introduced in the country. I wonder what would have happened if this excellent man had chosen to follow the comfort line and join them in order to take advantage of Nigerians, or if he had not obtained a license at that time!

 In addition to upending the well-oiled scheme to continuously take advantage of Nigerians by charging a fixed N50 rate for each minute of calls, Dr. Adenuga also shattered the backs of those who turned SIM cards into gold, which many people had to borrow money to buy. If my memory serves me well, his decision to make Glo charge per second was not as significant as what he did for millions of people to acquire Glo SIM cards with ease. He democratized obtaining SIM cards for all and sundry and equally made it easy to make calls without being exploited. He made it feasible for anyone to get a SIM for roughly N5,000 and pay for it in instalment through their airtime recharge, instead of the N20,000 that others were selling SIMs for. Some of those have worked with him recall his unwavering declaration of love to assist Nigerians in acquiring their own Glo SIM cards so they can connect and communicate with friends and family without having to pay a set and costly fee for each minute of call.

The benefits of that intervention, I’m sure, are too great to sum up in a single day and in a tribute to such a man of honor. Many were amazed that a Nigerian could genuinely take action to improve the lives of people either known to him and those he has never met.  It’s time to celebrate the 72nd birthday of one of the greatest businessmen in history and a traditional son of Nigeria and Africa. He has built a huge corporate empire with the aid of God and humility, attracting the support and collaboration of some of the most renowned businesses in the world’s telecom infrastructure industry. This is what Glo has managed to do in the more than 20 years that he has been in Nigeria. He became the first African to independently finance a submarine cable that runs from Europe to Africa in order to help a continent that sorely needed better, dependable, and faster data services. His unwavering spirit also helped establish Globacom as a strong Nigerian brand in the telecoms space. Not a few people have wondered at the kind of vision that drives Dr. Adenuga in taking on such risky venture, where others would simply have given up. As several of his workers have often remarked, once he sets his mind to anything, you either follow him or drop along the way because he would not stop until he docks at the port of success. If it had been an easy trajectory, maybe many more would have followed in his footsteps and Nigeria would have been enjoying many more billionaires like him.

He has consistently been fortunate and has shown that he is at ease wearing the toga of a risk taker. He has unswervingly exhibited qualities that very few businessmen worldwide possess: dedication, diligence, perseverance, and an undying faith in God. When he and several other Nigerians were given prospecting licenses to explore virgin territories for crude oil decades ago, he immediately threw himself into the high-risk venture, while many others just sold their rights to get out of the dangerous Niger Delta region. It is generally known that his tenacity and commitment ultimately paid off when Consolidated Oil struck the famous black gold almost at the last minute, just when it seemed like hope was about to give way to serious economic losses. Dr Adenuga is a proud recipient of awards from far and near, including the highest civilian award in France, the award of Commander of the Legion of Honour. He is the first Nigerian to be so decorated with the award for being “a true role model for Africa” who has contributed immensely to the growth of the African and French economy.

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He also holds the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s second highest national honor, second only to the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), which is only reserved for Nigerian Presidents and Heads of state. The award was a recognition of his immense contributions to promoting the Nigerian economy. As this great icon turns 72 years in his blessed sojourn, it is a thing of joy to consider how much of a gift he has become not just to people around him, but also to humanity at large. It is our sincere prayers that the Almighty will continue to bless him with the energy, good health and the vision to continue to do what he was born to do to affect humanity positively.Congratulations and happy birthday to Dr Adenuga for 72 honourable years and to greater decades to come in service of humanity.

• Babarimisa wrote from Kaduna