How Billionaire Tycoon, Mike Adenuga Is Powering Ambition

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

Whatever you do, be different. If you are different, daring, bullishly deft at making good things happen, you will stand out in the outstanding remarkable way that business tycoon and a holder of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON, Dr. Mike Agbolade Adenuga Jnr. has been. One cannot think of a better advice, counsel and business-wise advisory for any budding entrepreneur who is inspired by the desire to take on the world and be at the summit of the commanding order of business.

In recent years, the Nigerian economy has been plagued by various challenges posed by currency devaluation and economic uncertainties. In the throes of this, Adenuga, a multi-billionaire magnate, remains one of the very few investors who have not quivered. Unlike some businesses run by crony capitalists, many of Adenuga’s businesses have beaten all the odds and he has maintained his position among the world’s wealthiest. According to Forbes latest ratings, Adenuga holds the title of the third-richest billionaire in Nigeria, standing as a top figure in Africa’s elite business circles. He also currently ranks as the 892nd richest billionaire globally.

Spotlight learnt that atypical of this self-effacing man also fondly called ‘The Guru’, he never really loves to engage anyone on this matter of ratings because of its holistic irrelevancy. But truly, contrary to these official evaluations declared by those international business magazines intermittently, insiders said —aside the multi-billion-dollar investments in Conoil and Globacom exclusively powered by Adenuga— on grounds of his illimitably exponential and expansive streams of onshore and offshore income some of which are unknown to these inquisitors, the famously self-effacing but trailblazing entrepreneur extraordinaire, unarguably, could passed as the richest man in Africa.

But as a man of peace whose humility and humaneness are unrivalled, Adenuga understands the principles of winning.

For the 70 year-old quintessential tycoon, he has his own set of rules and winning formula. He has an addictive, irrepressible inclination to generosity and philanthropy, at possibly a level unmatched by anyone else on the continent, combined with an almost manic abstinence from public acknowledgement of his mind-numbing depth of giving. He has continued to be a truly inspirational bellwether, if ever there could be one at par with him.

In 2018, the business guru expressed his quiet but unalloyed passion for the education sector when he announced an endowment worth over N100 million of a Professorial Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Lagos with immense benefits for the academic community.

The Dr. Mike Adenuga Professorial Chair —domiciled at the Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre inside University of Lagos— will focus on research that would support enterprise creation and development in the country.

As part of the cardinal objectives of the professorial chair is also a special annual lecture series. Almost three years into the endowment, the lecture series finally debuted by the first chair occupier and Head of Entrepreneurship Hub and Strategic Management, Professor Sunday Adebisi on Tuesday, 28 November.

In her remark, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos and host of the lecture, Professor Folasade Ogunsola appreciated Adenuga for his choice of UNILAG in pursuit of his passionate commitment to promoting Entrepreneurship.

The occasion witnessed major players and stakeholders drawn from both the private and public sectors gathered to address and proffer solutions to some of the identified dire challenges facing the society.