How Mike Adenuga kept Glo glowing at 22

By Funsho Arogundade

Dr Mike Agbolade Adenuga Jnr is unarguably blessed with grace in immensurable quantity. As a business titan with gaze sets on goals, Adenuga has recorded a bouquet of accomplishments in key sectors of the Nigerian economy: banking, property, energy and telecommunications.

There is no gainsaying that the dollar-denominated billionaire abhors wealth exhibitionism. But one aspect of his enterprise where the result could not be ignored —on size and scale— is Globacom! Friday August 29, 2003 would forever remain a memorable day in the annals of Nigeria. It was a day, Globacom, Nigeria’s second national operator also known as Glo, was born with Adenuga, in a broadcast during the launch, telling subscribers to ‘Rule Your World’ and seize their destiny and become the best they can be. Glo, like a new born baby, was welcomed into the Nigerian telecoms world, and has grown to strategically deepen her presence through verifiable ethical approach and strong corporate governance.

The cut throat and unrepentant insensitivity of those who came before Adenuga made GSM, at its inception in Nigeria, to be above the reach of the common man. But when Glo landed, Adenuga made every second count. With the revolutionary per-second billing, subscribers stopped paying for time they didn’t use. They started enjoying calls on their own terms. This only represents the tip of the iceberg as the man fondly called The Guru, from the get-go, unpretentiously showed that his brand is coming to take a sizable —if not dominate— Nigeria’s telephony space.

Asides from its reputation as one of the networks with the cheapest data, Glo consistently activates various promo as a welcome relief for many Nigerians burdened by dwindling income. The record is there for everyone to see that Glo, for many years, has been exciting the most vulnerable people, through various promotions, with mouth-watering gifts including houses and choice cars delivered to them —and the telecoms giant is still lighting the way. But this glow wasn’t built overnight. It was built with vision, resilience, passion and purpose.

Now at 22 (on Friday August 29, 2025), Adenuga, who is a study in diligence and entrepreneurial excellence, is still investing billions of dollars in extending Glo long reach to ever more nooks and crannies of Nigeria and beyond —above the ground, below the ground and even undersea— with game-changing innovations.

Adenuga dreamt of a new era of possibilities in the area of broadband connectivity and took a leap forward with the deployment and launch of the most extensive and expensive fibre optic backbone: Glo-1 —the intercontinental submarine cable linking Nigeria with the outside world —costing over $250 million. Not just a giant feat, the commercial launch marked the first time a single company in Africa would implement such a massive undersea project. The expansive 9,800 km-long Trans-Atlantic cable, complemented by a microwave backbone that serves as backup, was designed to further enhance voice and provide internet connectivity between Europe, America and the West African coast.

To bring best-in-class services to millions of Glo customers, Adenuga, recently at a very huge cost, approved the relocation of Glo fibre infrastructure in several locations across Nigeria where uncoordinated road constructions have had an impact on network quality across the federation. Not only that, the company excited subscribers across Nigeria who praised its network upgrade, citing faster internet speeds, clearer voice calls, and stronger coverage. And with his irrepressible spirit, the 72 year-old quintessential African entrepreneur is poised to make Glo one of the most innovative networks in Africa with operations in Nigeria, Ghana and footprints in Senegal, Gambia and Cote d’Ivoire.