For billionaire mogul, Dr. Mike Ishola Adenuga Jr., what makes him unique among the global wealthy elite is simply that he never takes any value for granted. As a global behemoth, Adenuga focuses on what works for him without bothering himself with what others do or say. He follows his own rules in business and develops personal business models. His interminable success story is a testimonial to that.

In a year marked by a double whammy of global economic turbulence and a steep depreciation of the Nigerian naira ravaging household incomes and corporate balance sheets, Adenuga has emerged as the exception among the country’s billionaires, seeing his wealth swell by nearly a billion dollars. According to recent Forbes’ real-time billionaires rating, Adenuga is renowned as Nigeria’s most liquid billionaire. While most members of the global wealthy elite saw their fortunes slant down south, Adenuga’s net worth increased. Since January, the telecoms magnate has had over $600 million added to his official estimate —rising from $6.1 billion at the start of the year to $6.7 billion. This cements his position among the continent’s richest and most influential figures, as his diverse business empire, spanning energy, telecommunications, banking, construction and real estate, continues to deliver robust returns.

There is no gainsaying that no matter the situation, Adenuga, a super-wealthy magnate and philanthropist, will always buck the trend. His type is few in the circle of seven billion human beings of the globe. Adenuga is big in philanthropy but his biggest philanthropic gesture to Nigerians is his telecoms voyage via Globacom on 29 August 2003.

Incontrovertibly, August represents a special month, not only in the life of his Globacom brand but the nation’s telecom industry. As everyone is savouring Adenuga’s global positive rating, Globacom was celebrating its 21 years as a market leader and Nigeria’s second national operator on Thursday 29 August. As he has weathered the storm better than most, likewise his Glo brand remains a dominant force in the African telecommunications industry.

As Glo celebrated 21 years of delivering on its promise of supporting technological advancement across the continent, another of Adenuga’s telecom facilities, Glo 1 submarine cable —which connects the United Kingdom to Nigeria and recently marked its eight years of flawless operation— remains a testament to his resilience in an industry fraught with challenges. Not a few will remember how despite widespread disruptions faced by other network providers in Nigeria and neighbouring countries recently, Glo 1 maintained a strong and stable presence in the market. Its resilient construction and durability were the reasons the damage did not compromise the cable while the cable infrastructure has also been upgraded to ensure maximum utilization. (Saturday Sun)

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