As he clocks 70, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr’s significance to enterprise is much like that of the virtuoso to a symphony orchestra. The multibillionaire Chairman of Globacom affects a flurry of beings curled into one: he is science, an art, a foundation of genius with dashes of brilliance brightening the creativity of his mind and soul and illuminating the world. A product of pure intellect, vision, and sheer enterprise, he can become any form he creates; he is a library of masterpieces, an intricate web of sensitivity and hope attuned in full measure to the world’s needs. At 70, he furnishes entrepreneurship in an enduring flurry, banking on the poetic imaging of his genius. Ultimately, Adenuga enlivens commerce with his brilliance; thus several decades after his emergence as Africa’s most revered business icon, his exploits attain the resonance of a fairy tale, writes LANRE ALFRED
The Magic and the Glory
Every man commands the gift of an enterprise; for some, it could be unclogging the steam pipes on a cold night; for some, it could be solving the intricate half of a complex equation. Some make their living delivering punchlines in packed theatres and a good many more ferret a living from interior plumbing. Mike Adenuga, however, asserts his niche in global telecoms, oil and gas, banking, real estate, and philanthropy. Very few tycoons can pull this off particularly when they have their fingers in many pies. Adenuga effortlessly does this, thus exploding the legend of the beneficent magnate into a billion sculpted pieces; each statuette projects his dazzling genius and benevolent repute.
If Mike Adenuga’s story reads like an enterprise legend, it’s probably because he has successfully matched grit to desire, with stunning outcomes. This is certainly a rare feat. His life espouses crucial entrepreneurial anecdotes through its metaphor-rich manifestations of his inventive sleight of hand.
At the cusp of his 70th anniversary, the social and business landscapes pulse with milestones he has achieved thus reasserting his worth as a rare force of nature. As family and friends join him in celebrating his 70th birthday, the image that pops into head is that of his genius and the passionate intensity he brings to entrepreneurship.
Indeed, very few men are as gifted as Adenuga. The poetry of his ascent radiates his glory through splendid enterprise, outstanding peerage, and a spirited lunge out of the trenches.
In Adenuga’s world, enterprise becomes magic; the fondling of ambition from a delicate prod into a feral nudge. A push against the odds. Against adversaries and unforgiving fate. Only a titan like Adenuga could brave these challenges and carve from it all, an Eden.
‘The Mike Adenuga Stare’
Some magnates fall by the margins of enterprise. Some rise through its cracks. In pursuit of profit, too many have incinerated in the flames of commerce but amid the smouldering pyre, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr. blooms like an aster. The billionaire entrepreneur flourishes unhindered, having learnt to douse the sweltering blaze of industry. But how does he do it?
Some say he does it by fanning the industrial hearth with a glacial quilt, dripping with passion and torrential rigour; they say his years of practice finally makes perfect.
Some say he does it with a stare. ‘The Mike Adenuga Stare’ – effectually rigged to tame the odds. In staring the odds down, Adenuga cuts a searing swath through a snarl of hostile economies and obstacles devised by fate, to forge his own path. It’s a reckoning.
And the world reckons him for his exploits; rarely does a magnate command so much love and idolatry of his industry and feats as Adenuga has done.
No doubt, he affirms the axiom depicting the fruitful magnate’s rippling virtuosity. Going by his trajectory, he may be likened to a god of the franchises he created and a guardian of the world his business empire inhabits. It’s a huge task; earth-born deities influence economies, politics, culture and cities. And if they are very assertive, they create not just the laws of government, but the code of mortal existence. However, no entrepreneur has been a god to as many vastly different worlds as Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr.
His worlds are tasking and exacting, but also flooded with the brilliant light of his imagination, whether he is building on the past, determining the present, or strategising for the future no one had ever imagined. Many have wondered how he came to amass such vast affluence and an enduring sway at the pinnacle of the business world; it’s mostly a function of perception. An ingenious ability to discern the labyrinthine tracts of commerce, and his persistence in asking ‘Why?’
Adenuga symbolises the enterprising African spirit, unalloyed commitment, resilience and hard work. Thus, he is today one of the most recognisable names on the African continent.
Inside Mike Adenuga’s Empire of Equals…
It is not easy to be a detribalised Nigerian. For a multibillionaire, every day is a somersault through blazing declamatory hoops. You know the heart of a patriot, however, from the way he relates with fellow citizens, irrespective of their ethnicity and other vast social stripes. His greatness manifests, especially, in how he treats those beneath him in all spheres of life.
A studious examination of his corporate leadership and entrepreneurial style reveals, among other things, that the Globacom boss is incapable of presiding over a failed enterprise. He is an inveterate workaholic, perfectionist yet pragmatic in approach; and the central appeal of his style lies in its practical precision. He’s sensationally excellent at what he does. Little wonder he has become, over time, the reference point for many ambitious entrepreneurs and business managers.
Yes, in top business schools across the continent and beyond, the corporate exploits of Adenuga are veritable case-studies for academic research. And there seems to be unanimity of opinions that the patently self-effacing businessman has created phenomenally successful businesses and changed the world in significant ways. Not surprisingly, millions of youths see him as a quintessential mentor because of his guarded and understated lifestyle and business successes. Others say it is because Adenuga quadrupled as a teacher, leader, father, and mentor before being an employer.
Adenuga’s rise to acclaim reads like an emotional orchestra. The symphony is a tour de force—a stunningly acute, intense, and intelligent manifestation not just of his manhood, but also of his dreams, challenges, the pluses and minuses of endeavour, friendship, the vital necessity of creative boredom, the phenomenology of watching his dreams erupt to fruition, and anything and everything else towards which Adenuga directs his supple imagination.
Intricate Breadth, Strength of Nigeria’s Industrial Colossus
Becoming an entrepreneur extraordinaire is not mere lip service. It takes consistent effort and focus on growing from just an entrepreneur interested in a particular business to becoming a respected and renowned empire builder. Think Adenuga, frequently likened to a champion and sometimes, a business genius that effortlessly depicts the image of a modern-day general of commerce. Nothing excites him as much as his octopoidal conglomerate because very few members of Nigeria’s affluent club can achieve great feats in their youth and remain quiet and self-effacing like an avatar of the Himalayan thrust. While some are busy pushing status and their immense bulk in a desperate dash for socioeconomic and political acclaim, Adenuga affects tact and humility without ostentation or pretence. You would be forgiven for ascribing to him superhuman smarts. For a man who has learned and mastered intricate business as the genius conductor assimilates Mozart’s aria, you can never ornament the words enough to describe his unparalleled verve and genius. If Adenuga were a lab scientist, he would have reordered groups in organic chemistry and calculated the anti-derivatives of functions that he will effectively deploy in real life – all with a modest amount of energy.
Watching Adenuga preside over his business empire, you get inspired by how beautifully he weaves the strands of his acumen and entrepreneurial depth into a dominant narrative.
But it wasn’t easy. It took incredible focus, courage and intentionality to carry himself the way he did. To use his gifts and talents, his brilliance and platform, to honour the preciousness of humane enterprise and nationhood.
It took humility and grace to seek beyond entrepreneurial exploits and improve lives via selfless, and fortune-changing philanthropy.
Adenuga reminds us that we can all resist the excuses that guard us from giving love. Whatever power we have, whatever our wealth and attainments, we attain humaneness and immortality, perhaps, by lifting others up; especially those who are less privileged than we are.
There is no gainsaying that Adenuga manages several moving parts of a colossal enterprise. The trajectories of its blooming creates a culture of growth that manifests in every aspect of commerce and societal life thus amplifying people’s perception of who Adenuga is and what he symbolises.
His Sterling Humanism
Philanthropy is at the heart of everything that Adenuga does. Why a lot of elite philanthropy is about elite causes is not so for Adenuga. Through his eponymous Pan-African philanthropic foundation, the Globacom Chairman helps Nigeria and other African countries to achieve social and economic independence while contributing to an improved future for Nigerians and other African citizens. The foundation puts smiles on people’s faces by creating or supporting initiatives that deliver knowledge, skills, resources and infrastructures that will stimulate innovation, facilitate commerce, drive enterprise and improve living conditions. Its core programme interests are entrepreneurship, education, health, and rural development. The education programme aims to support the study of disciplines that drive innovation and development.
As the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the world, Adenuga dug into the depth of his humanity to support every effort of the federal government to combat the virus, particularly, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s private sector Coalition against COVID-19, donating heavily. In a letter to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Adenuga applauded the federal government’s measures to tackle the pandemic’s impacts on the country, commending the bank for its worthwhile initiatives. He donated generously to the Lagos State government, various bodies, and institutions. Nigerians are still talking about it even as you read.
Love for the Arts
Adenuga’s love for the arts is intrinsic and invaluable. Perhaps after his passion for business, making money, and philanthropy, appreciation of the arts is next in line. The entertainment industry has featured prominently in Globacom’s corporate social investment initiatives because of Adenuga’s passion for the industry.
Aside from direct financial commitments, including massive sponsorships, Globacom currently retains the largest number of key players in the entertainment industry as brand ambassadors while upholding that by actively engaging them. He has also really done so much too for African football. He has taken football to greater heights and African football has suddenly become a global phenomenon that can no longer be held back. It is no wonder that Africa continues to get more slots in the FIFA World Cup competition.
Many entertainers, both established and unheralded, have been blessed immeasurably by this love and patronage.
For several decades, the Alliance Française, committed to promoting French culture and teaching French as a second language around the world, was located in the boisterous area of Yaba, Lagos. But thanks to the generosity of Dr Adenuga, the organisation now has a new home in Ikoyi that has been aptly named the Mike Adenuga Centre. Since it was declared open to the public in 2019, the centre has been receiving commendations from far and near from art aficionados and artists, and preeminent Nigerians. In Adenuga’s reckoning, it is all in a day’s work
Philosophy
Virtues, according to him, should be, in the popular estimate, the rule guiding human conduct in business, social and political circuits rather than the exception. “A man is nothing without his virtues,” he argues. Thus he endeavours to do good. But his deeds are done not as an apology or extenuation of his fortune and citizenship of the world. While many rich men propagate virtues as penances for the inaction of the world’s privileged divide, Adenuga imbibes and perpetuates the culture of goodness out of an intrinsic part of his manliness.
Reports abound that despite his large heart, Adenuga has suffered untold betrayals from friends and staff. Yet, he does not harbour resentment towards anyone. He forgives easily. Thus, he sets high standards, which he abides by as a matter of exemplary leadership and integrity of character. Therefore, it is not surprising that doing good comes naturally to him, which is why no amount of betrayal or backbiting would deter him from what he believes in. He doesn’t hug the limelight despite that it comes with his monumental attainments.
Notwithstanding his depth as an entrepreneur extraordinaire, philanthropist, and citizen of humanity, Adenuga covets no vanities, unlike other billionaires. He demands no free verses, heroic couplets, or ornamental rhymes to glorify his personage as a man. Adenuga is hardly given to such infectious vanities.
