Mike Adenuga Jr., is a Nigerian billionaire businessman. He is currently ranked as the third richest individual in Africa, with a net worth in excess of 7.1 billion USD (according to the Forbes 2022 rankings)
Born on 29 April 1953 in the Nigerian city of Ibadan, located in modern-day Oyo State, Adenuga has grown from being a former taxi driver to becoming one of the most successful business moguls in Africa. His company, Globacom, is the second-largest telecommunications company and operator in Nigeria, with a strong presence in Ghana, Togo, and the Benin Republic.
Mike Adenuga, ranked as the second richest man in Nigeria, behind Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is a highly influential figure globally. He is known as a relentless businessman who has become a source of inspiration to young people across the continent.
Popularly referred to as ‘the bull’, he has shown himself to be a go-getter, hustler extraordinaire, and a determined individual that goes for whatever, pushing to achieve positive results no matter the challenges.
He is a man with humble beginnings, who had his secondary school education at the Ibadan grammar school Oyo State. At the University, he worked as a taxi driver and security guard to support his education.
Adenuga graduated from Northwestern Alva Oklahoma State University and pace university New York, with a degree in business administration. Adenuga means different things to different people; he is a husband, father, team leader, role model, and entrepreneur.
He made his first fortune at the age 26 in the 1970s when he returned to Nigeria. He took over his mother’s sawmill business and distributed lace and other materials, he also sold Coca Cola. He made some powerful friends in the Nigerian military and relied on those relationships to corner lucrative state construction contracts. Nigeria’s former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, awarded him an oil prospecting license that he used to build Conoil and became the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities.
In 1990, he received a drilling license and in 1991, his consolidated oil struck in the shallow waters of South Western Ondo State, the first indigenous oil company to do so in commercial quantity. After the first conditional GSM license he received in 1999 was revoked, he received another when the government held another auction in 2003.
His Telecom Company Globacom spread quickly and started challenging the giant MTN Group.
It launched services in the Republic of Benin in 2008 and has continued its spread across Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire, as more licenses are being prospected in other West African countries. He was named African Entrepreneur of the year at the maiden African Telecom Awards(ATA) on august 15, 2007.
During an interview with a leading international media agency, Adenuga shared his success tips and lessons for young Africans across the globe. According to him, “no start is too small. No matter how menial a job or business a person starts with in life is, it’s key to be diligent in your work. You must learn the basics of growth, never cheat the process, and slowly but surely, as you get exposed to more opportunities and take advantage of them, you’ll eventually turn out successful.”
This article will reveal the business philosophies behind Adenuga’s huge success that every ambitious entrepreneur should follow. Here are 5 success tips from the Bull himself.
- Have a Vision: For Adenuga, no one should live without a vision. He says that young people will try to do everything and be everything without a vision, thereby missing their purpose. Everyone has a vision, but it must be discovered and outlined for success to be achieved.
- Stay Focused: Adenuga believes that one of the key requirements for success is focus, and attributes his success to this. In a world where distraction is inevitable, he advises that young people remain focused on their vision and continually look towards the big picture – the ultimate goal.
- Seize your Opportunities: Adenuga’s life is a perfect case study when it comes to opportunities. He encourages young people to be prepared to seize their opportunity when it surfaces, because it may not come a second time. Success is only achieved when opportunities meet you, are prepared, and are seized.
- Be Disciplined: Discipline is perhaps one of the greatest attributes of successful people. To be successful, you need discipline in virtually all areas of life. One must be able to set personal boundaries and remain disciplined, no matter the influences and challenges.
- Impact Others: The people you impact today will fuel you tomorrow! Adenuga is a living testimony when it comes to reaping the goods from individuals you have impacted in the past. He believes that the most significant investment anyone can ever make is in people, and rightly so.
