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As Nigeria’s Independence Day approaches on October 1, one colour will once again dominate the national landscape: green. Green-white-green will fly from rooftops, offices and roadside poles, appearing on flags, shirts, caps and everything else Nigerians use to celebrate their country. But green is more than the colour of our flag. In the quiet laboratory of branding, where perception shapes reality and memory determines loyalty, colour can be capital, strategy, identity and power.
In business, success is often traced to capital, contacts, courage and calculation. But sometimes, something as seemingly simple as colour can become a formidable business weapon.
Colour is not decoration. Colour is strategy. Colour is identity. Colour is power.
Few entrepreneurs in history—anywhere in the world—have understood and deployed this power with the instinctive genius of Mike Adenuga. Long before branding became fashionable in Nigerian boardrooms, before “brand equity” entered everyday vocabulary, Adenuga had already mastered the psychology of colour. He did not merely choose colours. He owned them. Nowhere is this more evident than in his conquest of green.
GREEN, NATIONHOOD, AND NATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Green is not just a colour in Nigeria. It is a symbol. Green-white-green is the national flag. Green represents agriculture, fertility, renewal, and hope. Green suggests abundance, life, and continuity. It is the colour of the land. The colour of survival. The colour of tomorrow. To dominate green in Nigeria is to connect emotionally with the nation itself. It is to weave a brand into the subconscious of over 200 million people. It is to speak to patriotism without uttering a single political slogan.
When Globacom emerged with its unmistakable green, it did not look foreign. It looked familiar. It looked Nigerian. It looked like home. That was not an accident. That was strategy.
THE EARLY LESSON: ETB AND THE POWER OF RED
Before green conquered Nigerian telecommunications, Adenuga had already experimented boldly with colour in banking. Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) was his first major laboratory. At a time when Nigerian banks were conservative in appearance—muted colours, bland facades, cautious branding—ETB arrived like a storm. It was red. Not timid red. Not decorative red. But aggressive, assertive, uncompromising red.
The bank’s former Managing Director, Ike Oraekwuoto, captured the philosophy perfectly when I interviewed him for my work on Mike Adenuga, Africa’s Business Guru:
“We started ETB in 1990 with red as an aggressive colour. Some banks today that have adopted red were not red before. We were the only bank with red aluminium profile. Once you see red aluminium profile, you know it’s ETB.”
Red announced presence. Red signalled ambition. Red communicated hunger. It said: We are here to compete. We are here to conquer. We are here to win. Oraekwuoto added: “Our chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga is an aggressive businessman. Everything he puts his hands on, there must be that element of aggressiveness. He is born to win all the time.”
ETB’s red was not paint. It was personality. It reflected the man behind the institution.
FROM RED TO GREEN: THE EVOLUTION OF A STRATEGY
If red symbolised Adenuga’s early phase—aggression, entry, disruption—green represented maturity, permanence, and nation-building.
When Globacom was launched, Nigeria’s telecom space was already crowded. MTN had yellow. Econet had blue and red. The market was noisy. The competition was fierce. Adenuga did not shout louder. He chose a colour that whispered—and stayed.
Green. The colour of growth. The colour of renewal. The colour of freshness. The colour of life. It was a masterstroke.
GREEN AS A PHILOSOPHY, NOT A DECORATION
Dr. Osar Emokpae, a brand specialist, in an interview with me explains the genius behind the choice:
“Green is about giving something fresh. It is about giving life to business, giving life to people, giving life to whatever. Colour is important in branding. It is a key icon of branding.”
Globacom was positioned not merely as a network provider, but as a life-enabler. It connected villages. It connected families. It connected dreams. It connected markets. It connected aspirations. The green symbolised more than calls and data. It symbolised opportunity.
Dr. Emokpae continued: “Colour is the critical eye of branding. Colour has all kinds of meanings. It has economic meaning, social meaning, pathogenic meaning. Until Glo came, I didn’t think of colour.”
In other words, Glo changed the conversation. It forced Nigerians to see branding through a new lens. Colour became central. It became strategic. It became competitive.
WHEN A BRAND BECOMES A COLOUR
One of the highest achievements in marketing is when a brand stops being just a name and becomes a colour. Coca-Cola owns red. Facebook owns blue. Tiffany owns turquoise. Globacom owns green.
Today in Nigeria, when people see a certain shade of green, they think of Glo—even before they see a logo.
That is ownership. That is dominance. That is psychological territory. It means the brand has moved from the marketplace into the mind.
GREEN EVERYWHERE: TOTAL BRAND SATURATION
Adenuga did not apply green sparingly. He applied it systematically.
Glo offices: green;
SIM packs: green;
Recharge cards: green;
Billboards: green
Kiosks: green
Umbrellas: green
Buses: green
Event stages: green
The strategy was saturation. You could not walk through a Nigerian city without encountering green. It was impossible to ignore. The colour became part of the environment. Just as Coca-Cola floods streets with red, Glo flooded Nigeria with green. This was brand colonisation. Peaceful. Persistent. Permanent.
THE ECONOMICS OF COLOUR
Colour also has economic value. Strong colour ownership reduces advertising cost. It increases recall. It improves loyalty. It builds trust. When customers recognise you instantly, you spend less convincing them. Green saved Glo billions in brand reinforcement. Every billboard became an advert. Every kiosk became a reminder. Every SIM pack became a message. Without speaking, green spoke.
WHY THIS MATTERS: THINKING LIKE MIKE
To think like Mike Adenuga is to understand that: Details matter. Perception matters. Psychology matters. Symbolism matters. He does not leave branding to chance. He does not treat aesthetics as secondary. He sees every visual element as a weapon. Where others saw paint, he saw power. Where others saw design, he saw destiny.
LESSONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS
From Adenuga’s ownership of green, three powerful lessons emerge:
1. Be Intentional
Nothing in great businesses is accidental. Every colour, logo, and design must serve a purpose.
2. Build Emotional Connection
Customers don’t only buy products. They buy feelings. Colours trigger emotions before logic intervenes.
3. Think Long-Term
Adenuga chose green for permanence, not fashion. Trends fade. Identity endures.
THE MAN WHO PAINTED A NATION GREEN
Today, Globacom’s green is woven into Nigeria’s commercial fabric. It is part of street culture, campus life, entertainment, sports sponsorship, and digital life. It has outlived competitors. It has outgrown rivals. It has outshone imitators. Mike Adenuga did not just build a telecom company. He painted a nation. He turned a colour into capital. A shade into strategy. A symbol into supremacy.
To think like Mike is to see what others overlook, to invest where others hesitate, and to build identities that outlive products. He understood early that in business, those who own the mind eventually own the market.
And in Nigeria, he owns the mind—in green.
