It’s often said, there is something about Globacom that makes its former workers return there years after leaving. Some say it has to do with the job security and convivial working environment; a number of other ex-staff say it is because the chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga, quadruples as a teacher, leader, father and mentor before being an employer. Bode Opeseitan, a pioneer staff who resigned in July, 2017, according to him, to run a family business, is now back in the fold as Director, External Communications & PR. The brilliant journalist is one in a long line of ex-staff of the preeminent telecommunications company to return after seeking pastures greener elsewhere. And he knows why this is so.
Describing Adenuga as a quintessential leader with an unimaginable capacity to ride above the storm of the past and reset his relationships with people when he felt the need to do so, Opeseitan put the issue in perspective in a widely syndicated article entitled ‘Adenuga at 65: Why the gold digger remains the real McCoy’. He wrote, “Dr. Adenuga treated me more like his son than an employee. When I wanted to leave Globacom last year to run a family business, Chairman was displeased. Somehow, he felt I would stay with the business longer. However, having spent 14 years supporting in my own little way our much appreciated Chairman’s vision, I pleaded to be excused.
Chairman took it harder than I envisaged. Since I made my intention known in April last year until I left in July of the same year, all channels of communication came to a near screeching halt. Knowing that I was not doing anything deliberately to hurt Baba or his business, I stuck to my plan.”
According to him, “Almost one year later, Dr Adenuga reached out to me and said the unthinkable. One of Africa’s richest men apologized for the way the system took my decision to leave. He painted my modest contributions glowingly and asked me to return if I wished. I deeply expressed my gratitude to him for his support over the years.”
Opeseitan stated further, “Severally (sic), he has recalled or reabsorbed former members of staff who left in the most dramatic circumstances. Some came back voluntarily while he himself reached out to others. For him, it is not about the sentiment but the value the individual has to offer. Yet, there were exceptional instances when he reabsorbed people mainly because he pitied their prevailing circumstances.”
A Fellow of the World Press Institute in Macalester College, Minnesota, USA; Poynter Institute, Florida, USA; and the Reuters Foundation, UK; Opeseitan worked at African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc for eight years, rising to the post of Editor, Tribune on Saturday. After leaving Globacom, he set up SA&B Mega Resources Limited, a fully integrated African marketing communications company with a global vision and a convergence of professionals from competitive markets within and outside Africa.
