Monday Mantra

"There’s no reason this cannot be the best day of my life. "      

         

-Serena VanderWoodsen Blake Lively

Recognized: Michael Adenuga Jr. GCON

A lot of entrepreneurs in Nigeria have looked up to Michael Adenuga at some point in their lives.

He is a successful entrepreneur, and is infact, the 2^nd richest man in Nigeria and the 5^th richest in Africa according to Forbes, with a net worth of $4.7billion. (Feel free to convert to naira if your calculator allows that much zeroes!)

 Incase you don’t know who Mike Adenuga is, in which case you have been living under a rock for way too

long, here’s a little about him:

He is the chairman of Mike Adenuga Group which comprises of oil and gas companies and telecommunications among others. His oil and gas company- Conoil Plc is one of the largest in the

country, with its downstream arm- Conoil Producing being the first indigenous company to strike crude oil and produce it in commercial quantity in 1991.

He founded Globalcomm(Glo) in 2006, which has now grown to be one of Nigeria’s largest telecom company, with over 24 million customers. Glo operates not just in Nigeria, but also in Ghana, Republic of Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Gambia.

In the banking sector, Equatorial Trust Bank, owned  by Mike Adenuga effortlessly met the 25billion naira capital requirement by merging with his other bank, Devcom bank. 

ETB later merged with Sterling bank.

And its no surprise that he was conferred with the national honour of GCON- General Commander of Niger.

However, all these achievements, titles, awards and wealth did not come for free. Courage, hard work and persistence are some of the price he paid.

In starting a business there is always a risk, and  Mike Adenuga has managed to risk a lot in starting up various businesses.Courage counts. They say, when you risk nothing, you risk even more.

Hardwork. Mike Adenuga did his undergraduate and masters degrees in USA. And although from a comfortable background, he took jobs as a cab driver and security guard.

Persistence. Mike Adenuga was issued a conditional license in 1999 to operate the GSM. This was later revoked. In 2002, through The NCC (Nigerian Communication Commission), his company was one of the 4 participants that won the bid. The mandatory deposit of $20 million was paid. 

But the license was revoked due to the company’s inability to pay the $265million balance within the stipulated time. Guess what? The $20million deposit was gone too!

While many may have given up after this, he later went on to bid for Second National Operator (SNO) license, and paid the $20million deposit again. He won the bid through Globalcom Ltd.

The SNO has the right to operate digital mobile lines, and serve as international gateway for telecom in Nigeria among other rights.

Modesty. Despite his many achievements, many still describe Mike Adenuga Jr as an epitome of modesty.

Sources: Forbes; News of the people; Naija gists

These are just a few reasons Mike Adenuga is #Recognized.

Know anyone worth recognizing? rising?

Let us know!

-Queen.

Rise, Raise and Give!!

This is an excellent opportunity to get your products out there!

Are you a young entrepreneur looking for how to showcase your products or increase your clientele base? 

Become a vendor at the Rise,Raise and Give(RRG) event on the 26^th of May, 2013

At Bics Garden, Lekki Phase1.

For more info please add us on: 223F2045,

or call: 08088159259, 08111132752 and ff @rrgevents.

Don’t miss out on this fun opportunity!!

Airtime Giveaway!!

Happy Workers' Day, VIVIens!! To celebrate the holiday, VIVI Retail has decided to do a lil something for one lucky VIVIen; we're giving away N500 worth of airtime(for any GSM network operating in Naija) to him/her. Wanna be the one? All you have to do is:

- Like our facebook page AND follow us on twitter,
- Know the answer to this very simple question: When was the VIVI Retail facebook page created? (Date: day,month, and year), and
- Message or DM us the answer.

May the fastest fingers win, *wink*.

Britain's First Black Marchioness

Just came across this month's edition of TATLER. On the cover is Britain's first Black Marchioness. She's Nigerian!(Well, her father is Nigerian)
She's Emma McQuiston, a 26 year old former model and food blogger.(emmamcquiston.com is her blog).
In June, she is set to wed Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth and the son of the Marquess of Bath.
I'm not so familiar with British royalty and titles, but she's the first Black person to be given such a 'weighty title'!
Check out the cover of the mag, and read more about Emma McQuiston!

Photos: Tatler magazine and Emmamcquiston.com