Mike Adenuga’s Glo at 22: A Network Still Dreaming in Green

Not every empire begins with fanfare. Some arrive with a whisper, then settle into the national bloodstream like a secret everyone suddenly knows. That was Globacom in August 2003. Today, 22 years later, it celebrates not just survival, but an audacious reinvention of how Nigeria stays connected.

The green glow has never been modest. From pay-per-second billing that rattled early competitors to Glo-1, a submarine cable stretching nine thousand kilometres from the United Kingdom to Lagos, the company built its legend on boldness. Mike Adenuga, its elusive founder, seemed to prefer letting infrastructure, not speeches, do the boasting.

Now, in its 22nd year, Glo is chasing another metamorphosis. Hundreds of new LTE base stations dot city skylines and rural fringes. Fibre cables, once frayed by reckless roadworks, are being rerouted like veins stitched anew.

It is a costly surgery, yes, but it is a surgery Adenuga’s Glo insists keeps its promise alive.

There is also a quiet greening within the green brand. Hybrid power stations and battery sites replace the drone of generators, a nod to sustainability in an industry notorious for guzzling fuel. Even the interruptions of vandals and saboteurs are framed not as defeats but as tests of stubborn resilience.

Still, shadows linger. Subscriber numbers have swung wildly, from dizzying highs above sixty million to sharper dips. The Nigerian telecoms market is a battlefield where loyalty is fleeting and competitors circle. Yet Glo continues to carry the confidence of an institution that believes anniversaries are markers of momentum rather than of age.

So what does it mean for a company to last 22 years in a country where even roads struggle to outlive a rainy season? Perhaps it means that Nigeria, chaotic as it may seem, rewards those who dream in big, glowing strokes. Adenuga keeps dreaming, so Glo keeps dreaming. The rest of us keep dialling.