Today April 29^th is a special day. It is the birthday anniversary of Otunba Dr. Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Globacom and Conoil PLC, amongst other flourishing companies who turn 71 years old.  A special gift to Nigeria, Dr. Adenuga is a colossus. He is renowned for his business acumen.

When it is comes to business, he’s got the vision. He can see good fortune light years ahead while others are still pandering whether it is feasible. Dr. Adenuga is unafraid to venture where others fear to tread.  Fondly called ‘The Bull’ for his fearless and zeal to take “No” for an answer, he’s got this Midas touch that is unparalleled.

Oil, Gas Transformations

 He transformed the face of Nigerian oil, banking, and telecommunications industries. In 1991, when oil mining and production was controlled by foreign multinational oil companies, Dr. Adenuga’s indigenous oil company was the first to start drilling crude oil. Today, Conoil has metamorphosed into one of the largest African-owned oil conglomerates on the continent with footprints in the upstream, midstream and downstream of the oil and gas sector. 

His forays into the bank industry are well documented where he brought a fresh energy and bespoke financial services with Devcom Merchant Bank and Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB) which later merged into Sterling Bank.

Changing Telecom Services Narrative

If there is anyone who has single-handed transformed Nigerian telecommunications industry, that person is no other than Dr. Adenuga. His tenacity to recover his Digital Mobile Licence (DML) which his company won in 2001 mobile auction but was illegally taken away from him, paid off in 2003 when his company Globacom won the Second National Operator (SNO) licence.

In September 2003, Globacom transformed the Nigerian telecoms market in particular and Africa in general being the first Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) operator to launch operations with Per Second Billing, Multimedia Service (MMS), Mobile Internet, in additional to plethora of communications suites.

Glo crashed the price of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card, leaving other foreign mobile networks scratching their heads in the GSM wars that changed the face of telecom, bringing down the price of SIM Card from N50,000 down to N100 and later to One Naira (N1) only.

Millions of Nigerians became overnight owners of mobile phones lines courtesy of the competition engendered by Glo. Every major step Glo took from the day it commenced operation, other mobile competitors were jittery, helpless and followed the initiative in other to remain in the market.

After establishing the footprints of Glo in Nigeria, Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr.), also took the telecom giant to Ghana and Benin Republic with mobile operating licences in those countries. Unsatisfied with the routing of calls from Africa countries to Europe then to Africa, he built Glo-1, the first submarine cable system that was solely financed by an individual. Today, Glo-1 links global telecom networks, data centres, banks and Interconnect houses.

Globacom unfazed has going a notch higher with Glo-2 ensuring that Nigerian cities, towns and villages and oil companies are connected to terrestrial fibres through its landing stations in Lagos and Niger Delta.

Digital Financial Services

Dr Adenuga, a man who can see opportunities from afar, has took the lead in procuring Super-Agent licence for Agency Banking and Mobile Money licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the establishment of Glo Mobile Money and Money Master Payment Service Bank Limited, a Digital Bank delivering financial inclusion services to Nigerians especially in rural, semi-rural and urban areas thus connecting them to the formal sector.

Man flowing with Milk of Human Kindness

The humanitarian side of this famous Nigerian billionaire is incomparable. Although, coming from a middle-class family, Dr. Mike Adenuga’s (Jr.) academic sojourn in the United States of America and the everyday life lessons internalized from his parents, Chief Michael Agbolade Adenuga (Snr) and Madam Oyindamola Adenuga, shaped his worldview and brought out his humane side in the way he deals with people and businesses.

He has been a major supporter of sports, especially football (Nigerian national teams). He has massively sponsored the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards for many years. He was honoured the title of Pillar of Football in Africa for his strong support for African Football at both national and continental. He has quietly rendered support to many without seeking media attention.
Through him, Glo sponsors the annual Ojude Oba festival in Ijebuland and also the Ofala festival in Onitsha, Anambra amongst others, promoting Nigeria’s rich culture.

 Humble Beginnings

A man of outstanding wisdom, Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr.) was born Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga on April 29, 1953 at Ibadan, Oyo State. His father was a school teacher while his mother was an outstanding businesswoman.

Dr. Adenuga (Jr) is an alumnus of the famous Ibadan Grammar School, North Western State University, Alva Oklahoma; and Pace University, New York, both in the United States of America where he majored in business administration with emphasis in marketing. As a student in the USA, he supported himself with jobs as a taxi driver and security guard.

Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr) is a visionary leader, an outstanding entrepreneur and and manager of people and resources. He is a man of uncommon intellect and wisdom have helped him overcome difficult times. Today, he sits atop a vast telecom, oil and gas (Conoil), banking and real estate investments.

As Dr. Mike Adenuga (Jr) clocks 71 years on Monday April 29th, 2024, SiliconNigeria.ng wishes him a marvelous birthday and many happy returns in good health in the service of the fatherland.

Davido’s reputation as “Omo baba Olowo” (son of a rich man) has never been in question but even the wealthy have been known to enjoy a financial boost from time to time. The Afro-pop star revealed he received his big boost as a teenager when telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria came calling with a N20 million naira endorsement deal.  

“I remember when MTN, a telecommunication company, came, and they were like they want to do endorsement, but then he (Dad) was like how much, and I said 20 million. I was like I’m 17. Nobody (had) seen that kind of money. Wow, this is from music, and it’s off like two songs, of course.”

Davido further explained that the deal came at the right time as it proved to be the incentive needed to convince his multi-billionaire father, Dr Adedeji Adeleke of the potential in the music business.

“I’m like, ‘Daddy see, we can do this’. “He built me a studio and gave me some money to run my stuff and did my first album, and it came out really really successful.”

Davido was the face of MTN Pulse between 2012 and 2016 and during that time the pop star dropped hit songs like Aye, Skelewu, and Gobe to mention a few whilst picking up a number of awards along the way.

Davido has since risen to become one of Africa’s biggest musical export, selling out various venues across the world including the O2 Arena in London, performing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, earning billions of streams across multiple platforms and collaborating with some of the world’s biggest artistes. He recently released his fourth studio album “Timeless” which peaked at number 2 on the World Album charts.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) issued yesterday a worldwide appeal calling to increase the value of pledges for digitalizing the world from the current $30 billion to $100 billion by 2026. 

The appeal by the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies includes a focus on raising the level of resources for universal and meaningful connectivity and digital transformation in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). 

The announcement of the target was made on World Telecommunications and Information Society Day, observed annually to mark the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and ITU’s founding in 1865. 

ITU secretary-general, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, “Tech is at the top of the global agenda, but the benefits of digital technology are still out of reach for too many people,” said “If we are serious about digitalizing the world in a way that is meaningful and sustainable, we must take action to accelerate digital transformation for everyone.” 

In 2023, ITU’s anniversary is focused on empowering the least developed countries through information and communication technologies using the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition and its online pledging platform. 

The ITU appeal to the public and private sectors encompasses a campaign launched in February 2022 by Partner2Connect to mobilize direct funding or other contributions for connectivity projects in countries registering the lowest on development.

Of the $30 billion already pledged overall, Partner2Connect has identified commitments worth $12 billion to bring the LDCs online as quickly as possible.   

The United Nations defines LDCs as countries that have low levels of income and face severe structural impediments to sustainable development. The call for resources, which comes as the UN strives to rescue its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, stresses the need for the globe’s digital transformation to be environmentally friendly. 

“The digital revolution is a defining force of our era,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “As the Internet becomes ever more central to value creation and innovation, least developed countries risk falling further behind. We must dramatically improve accessibility and inclusivity and eliminate the digital divide.” 

According to ITU data, 2.7 billion people worldwide were offline in 2022. The digital connectivity divide separating the least developed countries from the rest of the world is widening on key factors such as access, digital skills and affordability. 

Though the globe’s 46 least developed countries are home to almost one-third of the world’s offline population, the Internet is considered to be affordable in only two of those countries. 

At the event marking ITU’s anniversary in Geneva, ITU Secretary-General Bogdan-Martin announced SDG Digital Day, scheduled for 17 September in New York in advance of the UN SDG Summit to review the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The SDG Digital Day, powered by ITU on behalf of the UN system, will showcase high-impact, sustainable, digitally based solutions that have a game-changing potential to accelerate progress on the SDGs.