Mike Adenuga: Blurring the line between commerce and compassion, By Tayo Williams

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Through the foundation, whose core programme interests are entrepreneurship, education, health, and rural development, Adenuga creates and supports initiatives that deliver knowledge, skills, resources and infrastructure that will drive enterprise, facilitate commerce, stimulate innovation, and improve living conditions. The foundation also targets vulnerable groups, Internally Displaced Persons, disaster relief, and national health crises.

Earlier this year, Chairman Mike Adenuga (GCON), founder of Globacom Limited, a characteristically unobtrusive business titan, made a huge dent in the world of giving. Through his Globacom outfit, he donated ₦1 billion to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund to “strengthen security infrastructure” in Nigeria’s economic nerve-centre. Typically, he did not make a song and a dance of it. That is his nature. Giving, for Adenuga, is noiseless and without fanfare, but it will echo across generations.

Sometime in 2020, the entire world was in a dark place. The COVID-19 pandemic was ravaging the world. Global economies had shut down, while humans were dropping dead at the speed of light. The situation was equally grim in Nigeria. There was panic in the land. Moved by the gravity of the issue, Adenuga donated ₦1billion to support every effort of the federal government to combat the virus, particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Private Sector Coalition against COVID-19.

He applauded the federal government’s measures to address the negative impact of the COVID-19 virus on the health, finance and other sectors of the economy, and the CBN for what he described as a commendable and worthwhile initiative that deserves the moral and financial support of all stakeholders of the private sector. The Globacom boss did not stop there.

He went on to donate ₦500 million to the Lagos State Government. In a letter to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Adenuga affirmed his readiness to work with the state government in the various efforts to combat the pandemic, while reiterating his conglomerate’s willingness to assist various bodies and institutions in the country with the supply of such essential items as health PPEs and other requirements.

But it is through his Mike Adenuga Foundation that he touches humanity the most. The proudly Pan-African philanthropic foundation was established to help Nigeria and other African countries to achieve social and economic independence, while contributing to an improved future for Nigerians and other African citizens.

Through the foundation, whose core programme interests are entrepreneurship, education, health, and rural development, Adenuga creates and supports initiatives that deliver knowledge, skills, resources and infrastructure that will drive enterprise, facilitate commerce, stimulate innovation, and improve living conditions. The foundation also targets vulnerable groups, Internally Displaced Persons, disaster relief, and national health crises.

Nigerian entertainers may well be the greatest beneficiaries of Adenuga’s large heart. Since 2003, when it began operations, Globacom has made Nigerian stars the faces (ambassadors) of its brand, while making them worth their popularity in affluence and influence. At a time when entertainers were being paid peanuts for their artistry, Globacom started dishing out millions of naira to its ambassadors, and helping them to live the life they only fantasised about.

Aside from direct financial commitments including massive sponsorships, Globacom still retains a large number of key players in the entertainment industry, and they have been blessed immeasurably by this patronage.

Popularly known as the ‘Spirit of Africa’ because of his vast business empire traversing telecommunications, banking, oil and gas, and real estate among others, Chairman Adenuga became a national sensation when Globacom entered the Nigerian telecommunications field back in 2003. He promised to build a truly Nigerian brand that would make life easier for Nigerians, and he proved it in no time.

Globacom made history as the first telecommunications network to introduce per-second billing at a time Nigerians had been told that it was an impossibility. Consequently, this began the revolution that made mobile telephony not just an exclusive preserve of the privileged and well-heeled, but a necessity for Nigerians of all ages from the North to the South and everywhere in between.

From its early days, Globacom had always defied market odds to delight Nigerians. The company launched a slew of futuristic products and services, such as being the first to offer 2.5G when others were on 2G, MMS, international SMS connectivity to over 804 networks in 174 countries, BlackBerry solutions, international prepaid roaming, voice SMS, personal ringback tunes, and Magicplus.

Before Globacom, he had founded and developed Devcom Bank and Equitorial Trust Bank into highly profitable companies that played active pioneering roles in developing the public, commercial and retail sectors of the economy. Later, the two companies were consolidated into Equitorial Trust Bank, which later merged with Sterling Bank Plc, with Dr Adenuga as the largest shareholder of the newer bank.

He owns a 25.1 per cent stake in construction giant, Julius Berger, through Goldstones Estates Limited and also owns 74.4 per cent of Conoil, one of Nigeria’s largest petroleum marketing businesses, through Conpetro Limited.

Conoil was the first indigenous company in Nigeria to explore, discover and produce oil in large commercial quantities, with the fastest on-stream production activity from licence award to the first production in only nine months. Aside from operating six oil blocks in the Niger Delta, Conoil is also the market leader in aviation fuels.

Since his emergence on the socio-economic radar of Nigeria many decades ago, Adenuga has steadily blurred the line between commerce and compassion. He has alchemised his economic successes into great philanthropy, touching and turning lives around across Nigeria and beyond. It is safe to say that philanthropy is at the heart of everything that the business titan does.

It is no surprise, therefore, that he holds Nigeria’s highest honour for a non-government official, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON); Ghana’s highest civilian national honour, the Companion of the Star of Ghana (CSG); and France’s highest national honour of Commander of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Legion d Honneur).

These titles are a fitting tribute to a man who has redefined the art of giving, made it a public sacrament, and shown clearly that he is not just about making money but making it available as resources for advancing the lot of humanity.

Tayo Williams is a Lagos-based media practitioner and public affairs analyst.

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