By Funke Egbemode
About two weeks ago, I had cause to drive through Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja to Ogba and then back to Ikeja in Lagos. The number of once-upon-a-time factories, industries and organizations that were on that stretch in the 90s and early 2000 surged through my mind’s eye. The relics of what once was, carcasses of once bubbling and busy stretch, signages hanging loosely or threatening to fall left me sad, depressed even. The once promising face of an industrial estate that afternoon looked and felt like a graveyard overtaken by dirt and weeds.
In those days, not so long ago, Oba Akran Avenue was home of many companies every young graduate wanted to join right after National Youth Service. The entrances and formidable gates that were once manned by stern-looking security operatives have since become Okada riders’ parks. From the road, you could see the weeds that have overtaken the premises of many of these companies. The peeling paint and signage, hanging upside down, of a popular name in publishing was particularly painful.
Today, the number of thriving businesses in Nigeria one can count on the fingers. Many that existed even 20 years have become history. Ask yourself, apart from the commercial banks, how many companies existing in 1989 can you list? My answer worsened my sadness.
As a follow -up question, I asked myself, how many job losses has this nation suffered since employers started folding up and or relocating their businesses out of Nigeria? Multiples of thousands. Deeply depressing. Somehow, however, dwindling and folding businesses have not translated to less number of luxury cars and palatial homes. And that’s where I get confused, probably because I’m not an economist. However, this is not about things that I do not understand, it’s actually about one of the remaining heroes of the Nigerian labour market. One of the last men standing to salvage the future of young professionals.
Dr. Mike ADENUGA who turns 71 on April 29, 2024 is one of the few blessed Nigerians whose blessings have continued to bless others.
Let’s not start with the Mike Adenuga Foundation which has a golden track records of relentlessly giving and touching lives. Let’s not even dwell on the spontaneous, off-the-cuff giving of the gentle Bull. I’m looking beyond the Glo King’s philanthropy.
People give. Billionaires abound in Nigeria and many of them have thousands of students on scholarships from here to Australia. Politicians give, whether free from the warmth of their hearts or to negotiate the fortunes of the next election. But we do not have many Mike Adenuga, tenacious, compassionate employers of labour who shield a chunk of the population from the scorching sun of lack and poverty. And until that story changes, our economy, employment statisticians will continue to grab at straws.
Like I noted earlier, Nigeria is blessed with the wealthy, the stupendous wealthy but we do not with close to 4000 employees in just one company. One billionaire, One Glo. 4,000 workers! And then, there’s Conoil, with arms stretched wide and strong in petroleum marketing and exploration. Think of the number of young graduates who joined Globacom is 2003 and what and where they are today as professionals; the Engineers, Accountants, Human Resources and Public Relations graduates who cut their teeth in Glo and rose through the ranks in their last two decades to the top of different ladders. Some of them are still in Globacom. Many have left, but wherever they are, they will never forget how they got to where they are. Think of the opportunities Glo provided. Think of the gapping gaps Glo filled in fulfilling dreams, the kind exemplified by the affliction that ravaged Oba Akran Avenue, Lagos and many of our industrial estates across the country. Imagine the spiral effects of the careers that sprouted and flourished in Glo, the families that changed for life because one man decided not to keep his blessings to himself and his immediate family.
Imagine the schools and proprietors the workforce of Glo patronized and how they didn’t have to worry about owed school fees and late salaries. The landlords whose rent came on time. Every formal and informal sector, state governments, many businesses who made more money because Glo came to be. The mechanics, carpenters and dry cleaners whose businesses got steady patronage because one man decided to be a blessing.
Conoil, you probably just drove past a few of their fuel stations this morning. Can you imagine the number of their fuel attendants, truck drivers whose lives are made easier, whose dependants can boast of a better tomorrow, because one billionaire decided that his money can be our money?
Imagine the number of people who pray for him daily.
Mike Adenuga Jnr. could have hidden his money in any tax haven across the world. He could have opted for less strenuous ways of multiplying his billions without directly employing thousands of Nigerians, building an empire that touch University graduates and indigents in a land peopled by those who swindle the poor and still hide their ill-gotten wealth in ungodly schemes like massive buildings nobody lives in in Asokoro and other choice areas across the country. M.A Jnr is rare and we need more of him to help rebuild what’s left of this pillaged nation.
Note that I’ve scratched only the surface of the tenacity of this tenacious Ijebu man. A man who looked adversity and persecution in the face, smiled, shrugged and rolled up his sleeves. He’s more than one article or one book can describe, which is a happy thing on his 71st birthday. We can continue when he’s 72, and the years after that until he’s 100.
So let’s pray again for him, like we did last year.
Dear God, please bless our land with more Mike Adenuga Jnr. Preserve our audacious Bull and bless his days with more blessings.
Happy birthday to the man who has made touching lives his life’s mission. Live long Sir.