Otunba Mike Adenuga, the founder of Globacom, a wholly and truly Nigerian player in the African telecom space, remains an enigma and mystery too surreal to understand. An unpretentious recluse, the chubby face septuagenarian (by the way, he turns 72 this Tuesday, April 29) is still a sealed book to many journalists, including those who ought to know him beyond the pages of newspapers, magazines and now on social media. Obviously, he loves it that way. He cherishes his privacy. A rare mystique for a successful tycoon with interests spanning oil and gas, telecom, banking, real estate, construction and other things in-between.
As an ICT journalist in the late 90s and early side of the magic year 2000, I had the privilege of interacting with top players in the nation’s Infotech and telecom sector. It’s been a long running relationship I have kept with some of the players till this day. The ICT ecosystem was driven by a small crowd of Nigerians who had strong partnerships with foreign companies. The crowd of CEOs was a mix of witty patriots, smart denizens and silent achievers. Some were recluses.
In telecom, state-owned NITEL was the only telecom company of note and it was nothing but a nest of corruption and a graveyard of worn out copper cables, jaded furniture and everything that tells the Nigerian story of rot, ethnic bigotry and crass incompetence. NITEL services, though analogue, were expensive. Infrastructure was analogue but erecting a single mast at that time was more expensive than the mast and its appurtenances because contract costs were bloated, and in some cases, awarded to persons and companies without technical and financial capacity.
Telecom services (largely voice service) at that time were expensive and unavailable. The key factors of availability, accessibility and affordability were missing. Pain and trauma defined the services of NITEL. And many Nigerians thought that by organising a digital mobile auction and subsequent roll out of digital mobile services by the early birds MTN (South Africa) and Econet Wireless (Zimbabwe) in August 2001, the telecom service pain inflicted on Nigerians would ease. Well, it did ease the pain but at great cost to consumers. Telecom consumers were made to pay for airtime at N50 per minute, a curious billing configuration where even a second into a conversation before it terminated was counted as one minute. It was pure extortion and it more than regulated the legendary culture of Nigerians to talk and talk.
But all that changed in 2003 when Adenuga’s GLO hit the scene with a carefully thought-out disruptive strategy. The disruptor-in-chief went to work, introducing per-second billing scheme which had been sold to Nigerians as ‘impossible’. By that masterstroke, GLO clawed deep into the mobile market and in no time, became the preferred network among consumers on account of its pocket-friendly services.
GLO’s recorded growth in the telecom sector, despite being a late entrant, is a testament to Adenuga’s vintage entrepreneurial qualities: Resolute. Visionary. Determination. Disruptive.
Being resolute in the pursuit of a goal is one attribute that runs through the veins of successful entrepreneurs. Adenuga has it in good measure. Obstinate and unflinching, he pursues his vision with bullish determination. When his company, CIL, lost the GSM licence in 2001 in controversial circumstances, not many gave him a chance to play in the telecom market having lost a goodly $20 million deposit in the process. But Adenuga dug deep into his inner resolve to pitch for an even bigger stake in Nigeria telecom. He would later win the slot as Nigeria’s second national carrier. Whereas other entrepreneurs would have sulked away from a deal gone awry, not Adenuga! The Bull got more bullish, abandoning the shallow waters to fish in the deeper ocean. His catch? Something bigger than GSM, indeed, the ultimate prize in any country’s telecom market – national carrier status.
Today, thanks to Adenuga, Nigerian telecom consumers enjoy per second billing and it has become the standard in the marketplace. Adenuga’s market strategy was not just driven by profit, it’s more a pitch of patriotism than anything else. The man commonly called The Bull is a rare patriot, a national asset who has become a sure proof that many things good can come out of Nigeria. He returned to Nigeria from the .United States to plant a grain of mustard seed. A small but nimble investment that has grown into a conglomerate that provides jobs and succour to many families.
Adenuga is not obligated to invest and keep reinvesting in Nigeria. He is a member of a rare tribe of Nigerian entrepreneurs who have shown great faith in the country. He has proven, with undeniable evidence, that Nigeria is a fertile market to invest in spite of the many odds, especially epileptic power supply and general high cost of doing business. And he has used Nigerians to accomplish his goals, another proof that Nigerians are capable of fixing Nigeria.
One area Adenuga has lavishly displayed his pan-Nigeria spirit and patriotism is in the entertainment industry. From sports to music and Nollywood, he towers above all in his commitment to the development of the sector. No Nigerian, living or dead, has impacted more positively on all the gamut of entertainment than Adenuga. Thanks to his generosity and patriotism, Nigerian movie (Nollywood) stars, comedians, musicians and a growing galaxy of entertainers have become proud ambassadors of GLO, earning millions of naira to match their celebrity status. He insists that those who must be the face of his products and services are largely Nigerians irrespective of their tribe and tongue. When the late Stephen Keshi, the most successful indigenous coach, won the Nations Cup with Super Eagles and threatened to resign, it took the intervention, benevolence and magnanimity of Adenuga to persuade Keshi from walking out on the nation in her moment of glory as the champion of the continent. He was the chief promoter of soccer excellence on the continent courtesy of the GLO CAF Awards. He deserves all the flowers as he notches up 72 rungs on the ladder of life.
Credit:The Sun