While many wealthy men have taken it a means to achieve personal goals, Dr.Mike Adenuga takes it as a means to pursue humanistic dream: a dream where no man will suffer, where every man will have something to smile about. He loves to put smiles on people’s faces. His philanthropic works cut across continents, especially in Africa.
His companies have made thousands fulfill their dreams. Although he is a man of little words and his philanthropic involvements are often done silently, but nature has her way of rewarding by exposing those who have done good to her, little wonder Dr. Mike Adenuga was voted by many as the best, in an award category that has eminent Nigerians like President MuhammaduBuhari, Professor ItahirruJega, BabtundeFashola, Bola Tinubu, former President Goodluck Jonathan and AlhajiAlikoDangote.
One of the world’s wealthiest men, Dr. Adenuga sits atop what is generally regarded as one of the continent’s largest business empires comprising oil and gas, telecoms, aviation, banking and real estate.
In each of these sectors, Dr. Adenuga has moulded his companies into major, if not dominant, players. In the oil and gas sector, for instance, ConoilPlc 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.
In the banking industry, Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) was one of the few banks that effortlessly met the N25b capital requirement during the 2005 banking consolidation exercise without going to the stock market. It only merged with Devcom Bank which was also owned by Adenuga. A few years back, ETB merged with Sterling Bank.
In Telecoms, Globacom is not only the most innovative network in Nigeria, it also, in its first year of operation, became the fastest growing in Africa and the Middle East, with operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic, Senegal, Gambia and Cote d’Ivoire. Adenuga also has a multi-billion dollar investment in real estate. These companies provide direct employment to thousands of workers and millions of others indirectly.
Dr Mike Adenuga’s achievements are rarely read or heard about in the news because he has made it a personal principle to keep his trumpets at mute, even when others are overblowing theirs.
