Mike Adenuga: Salute to ‘the Guru’ at 60

Suraj Oyewale

He has different monikers. ‘The Guru’ and ‘the Bull’ are two of them. The guru is one that has extraordinary thinking and problem-solving ability, the bull is one that executes aggressively – meaning he is a combination of brain and power! Welcoming you in front of his architectural masterpiece of an office on Adeola Odeku street in Victoria Island, and his talk-of-town Banana Island private mansion – both in Lagos – is the statue of a bull. To tell you a bull works and lives here!

That is Michael Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga, omo mama Niyi n’Ibadan. The name became a household one in Nigeria when he threw his hat into the newly deregulated telecommunication industry ring in 2001, at first with CIL, losing license and money in the sum of twenty million dollars, and coming back, even more powerfully, with Glo, two years later.

Many times in the course of my discussions on Nigerian online forums, especially Nairaland, I have had to argue with many people that Adenuga had been made far before Glo. A lot of Nigerians got to know about Adenuga when he made foray into telecommunication sector, but some of us had known him at least a decade earlier. The first time I came across the name Michael Adenuga was around 1992 – yes, 1992, and when I was barely 10 years old.

As a voracious reader of newspapers right from primary school, I had read about then President Ibrahim Babangida’s issuance of oil license to some Nigerian moneybags. Although the licenses were issued in 1991, it made news for the next two years, because that was the first time oil prospecting operation was opened for indigenous participation. It became a status symbol of sorts then and it was believed among Nigeria’s army of self-appointed wealth valuers (including yours sincerely) that the people that had oil blocks were the richest Nigerians. It was highly celebrated in the media, especially newsmagazines like TELL and NEWSWATCH, which had a nose for investigative and behind-the-scene scoops.

Names like MKO Abiola, Mai Deribe, Aminu Dantata, Gabriel Igbinedion, Dapo Sijuade, Yinka Folawiyo, Michael Adenuga, and a couple of others featured in the list of these ‘oil multi-millionaires’. That was 1992!

Of all the names, I was most interested in Michael Adenuga’s. My reason was two-fold: One, others were already well-known and they didn’t trigger curiosity; two, he was the youngest, reported by newspapers to be 39 then. So I was curious to know who this man that was allocated oil blocks with giants like Abiola and Igbinedion was. That was my earliest recollection of the name Michael Adenuga.

Next month, the young man I read about in newspapers in 1992 will be 60 years old. The time cannot be more auspicious to devote my column to him. I have received flaks many times for defending capitalists like Adenuga, Dangote and Wale Tinubu, but I believe the criticism (of my writing good words about these guys) is misplaced.

The major argument people bring forth against them is that they – especially the first two – are too close to government and they made their billions from rent-seeking. I still disagree.  Before you can be rich enough to be friend of the president , you must have worked very hard and do yourself some good for many years. The president cannot just go to the street and pick one Alhaji Mai Dogo and co or Uche and Brothers Limited for a major business deal. I have not endorsed getting presidential favour in economic activities, I am only trying to make people respect the many years of hardwork and tenacity of these guys before they got presidential attention.

When Mike Adenuga was driving cab in New York in his school days and later engaging in car importing and exporting in the early eighties, when Dangote came to Lagos with his grandfather’s N500,000 loan in 1977 and started cement business in Apapa, when Wale Tinubu  was using his school fees in London to buy car, driving through Europe to resell, when he waltzed through Bonny waters in rickety boat without life jacket all in order to deliver on a contract, there was no Babangida or Obasanjo favouring them. That is why I hold a somewhat different opinion that we need to respect the hardwork and business acumen of these guys, even while not feigning ignorance of the role of political economy (interplay of politics and economy) in their latter years.

In any case, you cannot be as rich as Dangote or Adenuga and be an enemy of government. It is not done anywhere in the world – even in countries we reel out as models of good system. Perhaps the only difference is that it is not flaunted as it is done here and you will not see a Bill Gate attending political event with Barack Obama.

Back to Adenuga. Like the bull he styles himself, he has a penchant for treading difficult paths. When he lost 20 million dollars (more than 2 billion naira) in 2001 for failure to meet up with the deadline for settling the balance of his bid price for the mobile operating license, he took his case to court, but, predictably, lost. Rather than relenting, he came back two years later to make another bid. He got the license this time around. That was the beginning of Glo. Not a few Nigerians believe that Glo redefined mobile telephony in Nigeria. They introduced per-second billing, when MTN had earlier said it was impracticable. MTN was forced to follow suit. They introduced cheap night call (dangerous to health as that was, anyway) and MTN had no option but to do same. They targeted rural areas, and it is to their credit that my beloved hometown, Offa, got mobile network in 2004. It should also be noted that of all indigenous Nigerian businessmen that won oil license in 1991, only Michael Adenuga’s Consolidated Oil (CONOIL) is still operating today. I can go on and on on the feats of the man they call the bull.

Michael Adenuga’s contribution to sports development in Nigeria should also not go unmentioned. He has been a passionate supporter of Nigerian football for many years. On many occasions, he bailed out the national team in dire financial situation. He also undertook to pay the monthly salary of former Super Eagles’ coach, Berti Vogts, from personal pocket. His Glo also used to sponsor Nigeria’s football league. He has also been sponsoring Nigeria Football Supporters Club for many years now. His cash and car gifts to the 2013 African Cup of Nation winning contingent are still fresh in our memories.

Much as I commend his patriotism and business dexterity, I must admit I am not a big fan of his management style. I hope the guru will introduce some flexibility to his style of running his companies, so that tales we hear from his staff can be better. Did someone mention his business empire is too big to be run like a one-man business?  Well, you cannot tell a man how to run his company.

Otunba, like a typical Ijebu man, is not known for doing things in half-measure, least of all things parties. So you can expect the country to stand still for Nigeria’s second richest man when the countdown to his sixtieth birthday winds up next month.

Happy birthday, the Guru.