Nigerians will never forget how Dr. Adenuga fought for them. Dr. Adenuga’s seven decades and two years exemplify excellence, a lifelong commitment that also takes the interest of the people into consideration. Little wonder that his name constantly recurs in the league of the richest men in the world
By Okunubi Titilayo I Monday, April 28, 2025
LAGOS, Nigeria – It’s this season that great icon and business mogul Dr. Michael Adenuga celebrates his birthday, which has become some sort of national day for admirers all over the country and even beyond.
The astute businessman turns 72 today, April 29, 2025. For this great African son, it has been a life of consistent efforts and successes. Dr. Adenuga has always been blessed with increase.
Aside from childhood, his path seemed to have been marked for success as everything he touched turned to gold. He is well known for striving for excellence and attaining success.
He is one of the wealthiest businessmen on the African continent, but he dislikes the general appearance as he wants to focus on running his large companies both in Nigeria and in various places around the world.
The media has for the last few weeks been on fire in celebration of his 72nd birthday. He deserves all the attention, especially when one knows that he particularly runs away from being the cynosure of eyes.
Dr. Adenuga grew up in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital and later travelled to the United States for his university education.
He returned to Nigeria in the 70s to take advantage of the burgeoning economic climate in the country at the time. He gradually developed into a titan of business with many commercial efforts, becoming the standard measured by the nation, in fact Africa, the economy and non-profit environment.
Over the years, Dr. Adenuga has dominated the business space. Conoil Plc, for example, is currently one of Nigeria’s largest and most successful oil marketing companies in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He had earlier bought National Oil and turned its fortune around into something to be proud of. Conoil Producing, a downstream operator, was among Nigeria’s first indigenous prospecting companies. In 1991, it struck oil in commercial volumes.
Dr. Adenuga’s midas touch came to play in this discovery. As the story has been told several times, he would have gone bankrupt if crude oil had not been discovered at the time his company got the black gold.
He was investing so much that he couldn’t return and retreat. Others would simply have abandoned the project, for fear of the heavy risks involved.
It was this same quality of focus that birthed Globacom after a botched attempt for a GSM license in 2001 during the bidding round. The great man persisted while the lucky foreign operators set the table and were busy exploiting Nigerians to the bones with huge cost of acquiring SIM cards and the per minute charge that ensured Nigerians paid premium charge even for a few seconds of calls.
The award of a license to Globacom was the huge liberation that Nigerians urgently needed at the time. Dr Adenuga’s passion for the best for Nigerians made him decide to bill callers per second to ensure Nigerians were no longer to be cheated.
He also crashed the cost of SIM cards, ensuring that Nigerians could acquire their GSM lines at little cost. I am sure when the story of the development of communications in Nigeria is written, this business mogul will have a chapter for his great contributions.
He ensured that Nigerians won the war without lifting their fingers. He could have decided to join the exploitation train but he chose to be patriotic rather than seek quick returns for his multi-billion-dollar investment.
The rest is history, but Nigerians will never forget how Dr. Adenuga fought for them. Dr. Adenuga’s seven decades and two years exemplify excellence, a lifelong commitment that also takes the interest of the people into consideration. Little wonder that his name constantly recurs in the league of the richest men in the world.
He is unarguably the biggest economic ambassador for Ijebuland in particular and Nigeria in general. His exemplary business acumen and leadership focus are noticed beyond the borders of the country.
Apart from holding Nigeria’s second highest national honor, the Great Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), he, in 2016, also received recognition from the government of the Republic of Ghana, which awarded him the highest national honor, Companion of the Star of Ghana (CSG).
He was also the first Nigerian to be awarded the biggest civilian award in France, for his contribution to the growth of Africa and France’s economy. He received the Commander of the Legion of Honour’.
The man of excellence and distinction will clearly always have the honour that follows him for his great contribution to society.
He has a passion to give. The business Czar seems to enjoy making others happy by putting a smile on their faces. For this reason, he is considered a spirit in human form.
Dr. Adenuga wears the sterling quality assigned to angels. God expects that we all do what we can to do good for others. This great Nigerian legend truly deserves all the accolades.
