Entrepreneurship Development: Power of persistence and Dr. Mike Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga

I am dedicating this content on entrepreneurship development to entrepreneurs considering quitting business because of challenges bombarding them without a sign of success. So if you are an entrepreneur or proposing to be one, this article is for you.

The information I am sharing on entrepreneurship development on Dr Mike Adeniyi Ishola Adenuga, chairman of Global communications, will be a tonic to you. Heis one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Nigeria and uses the power of persistence as a ladder to move forward in business.

He was born on April 29, 1953, and the last of five children. An indigene of ijebu igbo in Ogun State, Nigeria.
While schooling in the United States of America, he worked part-time as a cab driver and security guard to pay his tuition. He graduated from Northwestern state university, Alva, Oklahoma, with a degree in marketing.
Then from Peace University, New York, he got an MBA in marketing. He also has an honorary doctorate from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun state.

Entrepreneurship Development of Mike Adenuga

He started entrepreneurship development (business) at 22, importing car stereos from the United States to Nigeria. He made his first million in business at the age of 26. As a young man, he's already a successful business owner. There are many business skills to learn from him related to entrepreneurship development.

After returning to Nigeria, he took over his parents' flourishing sawmill business at Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. He successfully ran and diversified the company into importing lace and beer.

When the government relaxed control over the banking sector in 1980, Dr Adenuga was among the first to obtain a banking license. It resulted in the registration of Devcom Bank, which started business in 1990, and Equatorial Trust Bank two years after.

During the consolidation exercise, when banks were to recapitalize with N25 billion, he merged the two banks, which now operate under Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB).

Dr Mike Adenuga is also a pacesetter in the oil industry. His company, Consolidated Oil Limited, is the first indigenous oil and gas company to strike oil in commercial quantities in the oil block. 

What separated him from his colleagues was that most of them who got the oil block sold it because they were scared of failure, not Adenuga. He persisted until he struck black gold.

The success of his telecoms company, Globacom, in Nigeria and Africa did not happen by chance. It confirmed that the man had a heart made of steel. It's a lesson for upcoming entrepreneurs in entrepreneurship development.

In 1999, Mike Adenuga obtained a conditional license to operate GSM services under the government of the late Gen. Sani Abacha. That was not to be since the Olusegun Obasanjo administration revoked it.

When another opportunity was presented by the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) for companies to bid, his company, Communications Investment Limited (CIL), participated and won.

He paid a deposit of $20 million. Still, because of some hitches, the balance of $260 million was paid after the closing date, by which time NCC had expired. Eventually, he lost the deposit.

He never gave up. With persistence and determination, his company, Globalcom, got licensed as the second national operator (SNO) and a market leader in the industry despite being a latecomer in the telecoms market.

Let me conclude this article with this statement from Calvin Coolidge (1872 – 1933), 30th U.S. president, "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than talented people who are unsuccessful. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

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