The word that follows the mention of Mike Adenuga is that he’s the “billionaire owner of Globacom” while only a few know about his philanthropic nature.
Full named Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga is a billionaire and Nigeria’s third-richest man.

Quick Note: The Nigerian billionaire, Mike Adenuga, is not in any way related to Wale Adenuga.
Early Beginning
The billionaire’s father is the late Mr Oloye Micheal Agbolade Adenuga, who was a school teacher.
His mom goes by the name Omoba Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (nee Onashile of Okesopin, Ijebu Igbo), and she was a businesswoman.

Adenuga Date of Birth
His late parent gave birth to him on the 29th of April, 1953. Mike Adenuga is currently 69 years old (in 2022). What’s more? His place of birth is Ibadan, Oyo, where he grew up as well.
Education
The billionaire started school at Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan Oyo state. He later attended Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro, for his Higher School Certificate.
He attended Oklahoma State University for his first degree in Business Administration and also bags a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) at Pace University, New York.
Marriage
Mike Adenuga is a polygamist and as such had children from two different wives. His wives’ names are Emelia Adefolake Marquis and Titi Joyce Adenuga, and they all together breed 8 wonderful children namely;
- Adetutu Oyindamola Emilia
- Eniola Adenuga
- Sade Adenuga
- Adeniyi Adenuga
- Michael Babajide Adenuga
- Tunde Paddi Abolade
- Abimbola Beenu
- Bella Adenuga

Source of wealth
He made his first million at age 26 selling lace and distributing soft drinks.
Mike Adenuga’s two major sources of income are:
- Globacom (Glo), a telecom built and owned by him.
- Consolidated Oil (ConOil), an oil Bloc also owned by him.
According to a eulogy published by PremiumTimes, Many Gen Z Nigerians (1997 and 2012) only know Adenuga as the billionaire owner of Globacom.
They don’t know that before Globacom, there was the Consolidated Oil Limited which Adenuga established in 1984.
Through the oil firm, Adenuga made history as the first Nigerian to find oil in commercial quantity. He found oil in a place even experts thought was impossible!
“Late November 1991, Consolidated Oil spotted an oil well in an unusual place, 50 to 60 kilometres north-east of Okitipupa in Ondo State.
“Nobody thought a place like that could produce oil in commercial quantity. From the beginning, all the experts wrote off the place as not being attractive for oil prospecting. In the language of the experts, it was a “heavy oil” zone, meaning that the possibility of finding oil there was non-existent. But Adenuga’s intuition and research suggested otherwise. Something inside was telling the man they call “The Guru” that that was the oil well to prospect for. The oil well was OPL 113 or Oil Prospecting Lease 113. It was located on shallow waters offshore Ondo State,” the great Nigerian journalist, Mike Awoyinfa, wrote about Adenuga’s exploit.
When asked to explain what made him stick to the oil well when even the experts were not sure, Adenuga said:
“It takes God to strike oil. The man who knows never tells you where the oil and gas are. Even God doesn’t tell you. You must make the effort to find it. That is the challenge. You must look for it. God has put it there but you must use technology, you must use everything you can to get it. When you get it, you are lucky. If you don’t get it, you go back and you sharpen your pencil again. In oil and gas, you never say die.”
Today, Consolidated Oil Nigeria Limited, now named Conoil Producing Limited, operates six highly prospective blocks in the Niger Delta.
The Mike Adenuga Foundation
The Mike Adenuga Foundation is a proudly Pan African philanthropic foundation. The main mission of the organization is to help Nigeria and other African countries, where the Mike Adenuga Group of Companies are commercially active on a permanent basis, to achieve social and economic independence. The Mike Adenuga Foundation aims to contribute to an improved future for Nigerians and other African citizens.
Net worth
The billionaire’s whopping net worth is $6.5 billion according to Forbes. Adenuga got this fortune from telecom and oil production.
Controversies
The billionaire has also had his own share of controversies which includes:
1. Nora Olumide Johnson, his former secretary, and mistress for over two decades made a shocking allegation during her court hearing. She gave reasons for the false allegations of forgery and stealing that Mike Adenuga levelled against her. Nora claimed the allegations came out of retaliation for the 27 years old love relationship she had ended with him.

2. In 2018, the House of Representatives ad-hoc panel resolved to issue an arrest warrant against Adenuga for failing to honour its invitations.
The chairman of the committee, Rep Ahmed Abu (APC, Niger) said records before the panel showed that Globacom Nigeria owes the Federal Government over N16.7 billion.
3. According to a 2006 report by SaharaReporters, the GLOBACOM headquarters was sealed by EFCC operatives due to Adenuga’s link to a multi-million dollar scam involving his bank, Equatorial Trust Bank in which the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) was deposited.
4. Also in the same year, a report by SaharaReporters noted Mike Adenuga was detained by the EFCC in July, 2006.
NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All details in this article are sourced from online platforms considered reputable. However, we cannot independently confirm/verify the information.