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LequteMan
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Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr, the second richest man in Nigeria, was born 7 years before Nigeria’s independence in Ibadan, Africa’s largest city.
Adenuga is worth $10 billion and Forbes ranked him the 103rd richest person in the world. In the latest rankings, Forbes listed him among the biggest gainers among the African billionaires as his current net worth was put at $10 billion, up from $4 billion a year ago.
“The significant jump in Adenuga’s fortune is attributable to new information on the value of his telecom, oil and real estate holdings. A higher estimate of Globacom’s revenues led Forbes to increase the value we assign to it,” Forbes said.
Here are 4 inspiring things about him:
He is a self-made man
Mike Adenuga built himself up to be what and who he is today. After graduating from the Ibadan Grammar School, for his secondary education, he attended the Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). He’s had to support himself after then.
Adenuga had to drive a taxi in the United States of America to survive in his university days. He also worked as a security guard.
He knows what he wants, and goes for it
Mike Adenuga knew what he wanted to do in life- business. He studied Business Administration at Northwestern State University, Alva Oklahoma in the United States. He also earned a Masters degree at Pace University, New York, majoring in Business Administration with emphasis on Marketing.
Then he started putting to use what he’s learned and today he’s the richest man in Oyo state. He started doing business at the age of 26 and three years later he started raking in big profits.
He is resilient
In 2001, Adenuga nearly burnt his fingers when he set up Communications Investments Limited, CIL, to bid for the $280million licence for global system for mobile telecommunications. He lost the bid. However, he didn’t give up.
The next year, set up Globacom, which eventually won the bid for the second national carrier in 2002. Globacom rolled out in 2003 and started with per second billing which the two existing service providers said was not immediately possible. Since then, Adenuga has not looked back. Globacom is, currently, the second largest operator in Nigeria and has operations in Ghana and the Republic of Benin.
He doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket
Apart from owning a multinational telecoms firm, Adenuga has interests in the oil sector. His exploration outfit, Conoil Producing, operates six oil blocks in the Niger Delta. He also owns real estate firm, Proline Investments, which has hundreds of properties throughout Nigeria.
