Nigeria's business guru and Chairman of the Mike Adenuga Group of Companies, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., has been unveiled as 'Man of the Year' by Nigeria's leading society magazine, City People, in recognition of his humanitarian activities and business prowess.
The award was presented by the magazine recently at the Mike Adenuga Towers, headquarters of the Group, where it was received on his behalf by Globacom's Group Executive Director, Mrs Bella Disu.
According to the magazine, Dr. Adenuga was preferred for the award ahead of other eminent Nigerians including Prof Attahiru Jega, the former chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who conducted successful general elections in 2015. Other contenders for the award were ex-Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, who bounced back as a 'Super Minister' after having gained wide acclaim as the 'Poster Boy' governor of his party; President Goodluck Jonathan for willingly conceding defeat in the presidential election and initiating a call to his opponent even before the announcement of results from all the states of the Federation , and Alhaji Aliko Dangote for spreading the tentacles of Dangote Cement to other African countries.
City People explained that the award is on account of Dr Adenuga's 'silent philanthropic gestures across Nigeria' and his leadership role in the business sector in Africa and his steadfastness in his commitment to various charitable causes over the years, describing him as a 'self-effacing philanthropist."
The City People said: "Last year alone, unknown to many, Dr. Mike Adenuga touched the lives of very many people from the Arts to Music, Politics and Business and even ordinary Nigerians," adding that "Dr. Adenuga had over the last 20 years made silent donations to about 5,000 senior citizens as monthly feeding allowances. And at the end of the year, he picked another 1,000 Nigerians across the country to endow and empower economically.But as a rule, he does not talk about it. And those around him are expected to keep mum".
While describing Dr Adenuga as a veritable example to every prospective entrepreneur, the magazine declared that he is "a quintessential businessman" and glowing example of the irrepressible spirit of the African entrepreneur, passionate, committed, resilient and extremely hardworking African business person. "Through his businesses in the telecommunications, aviation, real estate oil, gas and other sectors, he is helping to set the pace and contributing to the growth of African economies, providing direct employment to thousands of Nigerians and people from the international community, as well as millions of others in indirect employment," the citation posited.
Born Michael Ishola Adeniyi Adenuga, the entrepreneur who clocks 63 on April 29, superintends over arguably one of the continent's largest business empires which comprise oil and gas, telecoms, aviation, banking and real estate. His telecoms company, Globacom, in pursuit of its pan-African vision, boasts of operations in several African countries.
Source: All Africa News
