Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr is one businessman whose name has been written in the good book of history as he has impacted on the lives of millions of Nigerians on account of creating employments in the telecoms, banking and oil and gas sectors. Not only that, his name is synonymous with philanthropy and greatness.
On account of his money spinning business, Adenuga was named the second-richest person in Nigeria
The business genius who is fondly known as The Guru, clocked 66 weeks back and celebrated the day without fanfare.
His entrepreneurial skill came to the fore when Globacom, the first and only telecommunications brand wholly owned by a Nigerian, became a mega success in a very short space of time.
Glo introduced innovative products and delivered first-rate service and before long, Adenuga had taken this winning formula to other African countries – Republic of Benin, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
It also became the first indigenous company to lay an international submarine cable, Glo 1, which has gigantic capacity from Africa directly to Europe and America. The optic fibre cable provides excess bandwidth to all the cities connected to the cable, and has culminated to a much faster and robust connectivity for voice, data and video.
Adenuga has indeed carved a niche for himself in the telecoms industry nurturing Globacom to an enviable level. Not only that, his Conoil is also a money spinning venture, doing so greatly well in the oil and gas industry. Conoil Plc is one of the largest and most profitable oil marketing companies in Nigeria. Conoil Producing, the downstream arm of the conglomerate, made history by becoming the first Nigerian company to strike oil and produce it in commercial quantity in 1991.
He did not stop there, he also made mincemeat of the banking sector. For instance, Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) was one of the few banks that effortlessly met the N25 billion capital requirements during the 2005 banking consolidation exercise without going to the stock market. It only merged with Devcom Bank which was also owned by Adenuga, and later merged with Sterling Bank.
He was born on 29th April 1953 in Ibadan, Nigeria. His father, the Oloye Michael Agbolade Adenuga Sr, was a school teacher, his mother Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (née Onashile of Okesopin, Ijebu Igbo) a businesswoman of royal Ijebu descent.
Mike Adenuga received his secondary school education at the Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan and Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). He graduated from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Pace University, New York with degrees in Business Administration.
Mike Adenuga is married to Titi Joyce Adenuga and has seven children namely; Ms. Adetutu Oyindamola Emilia, Eniola ‘EnnyBoy’, Folashade ‘ShadyGirl’, Adeniyi ‘NiyiBoy’, Prince Michael ‘Bobo ‘Babajide, Tunde ‘Paddy’Abolade, Abimbola Beenu, and Belinda ‘Bella’ Olubunmi Ajoke.
