By Femi ADESINA
You don’t see him, you don’t hear him, but he’s always there, showing his hand only when it matters. And it’s usually in a remarkable way.
There are some wealthy people who are swashbuckling, swaggering, throwing their weight around and not letting you forget for a moment that they are there. But not our man.
Quietly, unobtrusively, inconspicuously, he keeps his eyes on everything, intervening only when it matters. The true Godfather.
First time I met him, I was editor of Daily Sun newspaper over 20 years ago. It was a lunch meeting with gatekeepers of Nigerian media, and he was going from table to table, exchanging pleasantries with his guests. When he got to me, he said; “Femi, bawo ni?”
“Femi, how are you?”
Shock. So he knew me, down to my name. He got me from then. I became a fan.
Yes, you already know who I’m talking about. Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga, GCON, serial investor and entrepreneur, promoter of Globacom, Conoil, former Equitorial Trust Bank, and many others. He turns 72 on April 29, 2025, and he deserves all the accolades he can get.
I met him at a sit-down meeting about three years ago (with the invitation at his instance) and his knowledge of local, national and international affairs baffled me. He is truly the Godfather that never sleeps, with an ear to the ground. I was spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari then, and he recounted everything I’d been doing, to my consternation. It was about a year to the end of the administration then, and he discussed with me extensively on what I would be doing next. His depth of knowledge was simply confounding.
When he turned 70 two years ago, I wrote a piece with the headline ‘Imagine there was no Mike Adenuga,’ and I chronicled his philanthropic works, which he does without any attempt at personal aggrandizement. Particularly, I focused on how he brought succor to Peter Fregene, the iconic Green Eagles goalkeeper, who was then languishing in sickness, poverty, and in the throes of death.
The media highlighted the neglect Fregene was suffering (don’t all our heroes pass through same travails?), and one day emissaries from Mike Adenuga’s Globacom Foundation showed up in his home. Fregene received attention to his health, his home, everything, and eventually went to his eternal home blessing his benefactor.
That is what Adenuga does all over the place, in sports, in entertainment, arts and culture, and in seedy and deprived communities round the country where food and other welfare packages are shared. He also gives out houses, vehicles, scholarships, through his many businesses.
He holds the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON), which is usually the exclusive preserve of the country’s number 2 person. He holds similar honors in Ghana, France, and many other countries of the world.
See places where he has made a difference: oil and gas, telecommunications, real estate, banking, construction, hospitality, entertainment, sports, arts and culture, and many others. He’s a man with the Midas touch. A true son of Nigeria, Africa, and of the world.
This was how I ended my piece on Mike Adenuga at 70, two years ago: “Imagine if there was no Adenuga. No Conoil. No Equitorial Trust Bank of those days. No Globacom. And philanthropy would have been short of a kind soul, and the world a poorer place.”
I still stand by that sentiment.
Happy birthday to the mystery man, who shows his hands in diverse positive ways, who strikes like lightning, and then vanishes. No self-glorification. May you live longer, and continue to be a blessing to humanity. Amen.
**Adesina, OON, FNGE, was spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, 2015 to 2023
