He’s the son of a schoolteacher who made good. He’s the billionaire recluse who prefers not to be heard or seen so he can mind his business. He’s the Forbes-quoted businessman who has created more jobs and advanced careers than many ‘rich’ Nigerians. For all Nigerians, he’s Mr Glo, the Telecommunications game changer that birthed the per second billing regime. For Nollywood and indeed the Nigerian entertainment industry, Dr Mike Adenuga is the man who took the product endorsement deals many notches high with his Glo Ambassadors.
For a man who did not like to be in anybody’s face, Dr Adenuga is quite the media man. Hiding successfully behind his successes in many sectors of the economy, he is a major patron of the media. The Glo adverts in print, electronic and new media have brought in billions of naira into the industry.
And then one day in 2017, out of the blues, my phone rang and the voice at the other end said, ‘My name is Mike Adenuga…’ I must have blinked a dozen times as I moved the phone away from my ear, looked at it as if it could show the face of the caller. He said he just called to commend me for my articles and to encourage me to continue to work hard. In the few minutes we spoke, I also heard a man with a deep sense of humour as he cracked me up with Ibadan jokes.
Mike Adenuga Jnr, is many things to many people. Maybe because he has many sides and has touched many lives. I have heard and read many stories of how he’d turned around the lives of many. I heard it gives him immense pleasure lifting others from the dung hill.
My prayer for this great Nigerian is: the grace that brought him this far will not depart from his life. May the Lord preserve Mike Adenuga and raise more men like him, men and women whose wealth will create more wealth and advance careers.
Happy birthday to a national treasure.
*Egbemode was a former President, Nigerian Guilld of Editors, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of New Telegraph Newspapers and immediate past Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Osun State
