Nigeria’s first truly multinational telecom company has just lapped up 16 years. Precisely on the 29th of last month, Globacom clocked 16 years of service delivery in a business ecosystem once thought to be the exclusive preserve of Western and a few Asian nations, having been launched on the same day in 2003.

Telecom has been the turf of America with brands like AT&T, Sprint, among others; China flaunting Huawei and ZTE et al, and other technology endowed nations. When General Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd), then military President, deregulated the telecom sector via Decree 75 in 1992, expectations were sky-high. But the nation could barely put a foot forward in addressing the drought in telecom service delivery.  State-owned NITEL was a fitting poster child for everything wrong with Nigeria’s public service. Inefficient, corruption-infested and monstrously inept.  Nigerians were simply starved of everything telecom especially voice telephony. For a people who love to talk, you can imagine the bottled-up pain. That was in the heady days of the military.

But the tide turned. Democracy birthed a new lease of liberty. A new way of doing things. The same Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, that could not spring the nation out of the nadir of telecom slumber would go ahead to midwife a world-class digital mobile licence auction that announced Nigeria’s vast telecom potential and limitless opportunities to the investing world.

Early birds rolled out services in August of 2001. Globacom missed the train that year in a controversial circumstance. But in life, sometimes, you lose to win and in some cases, even win big. Globacom won big in 2003 acquiring the status of not just a digital mobile licensee but a second national carrier (operator). That’s the roulette of life. Sometimes, a door closes at you just so a bigger door will open at the next turn. Globacom was fated for greatness. In just a matter of two years, the disappointment of yesterday dissipated to a huge appointment as a national flag-bearer in the global telecom matrix.

It bears restating that Globacom did not just happen, it brought with it a bouquet of hope and optimism to Nigerians, nay Africans. As one of Nigeria’s ICT journalists who foretold of a luxuriant future for the nation’s telecom industry, I recall the pangs of pain Nigerians had to endure with the shylock telcos who rolled out ahead of Globacom, charging telecom consumers a punitive N50 per minute. I recall that to procure a SIM card then one would need to pay as much as N20,000. The operators ran like a cartel of financial buccaneers. Nigerians cried in hopeless holler but the operators were solidly united in the fleecing. That was not the deregulated telecom market we craved for.

The financial anguish was too much to bear until Globacom (Glo) popped up on the stage with uncommon patriotic fervour. And pronto, the music changed. And so did the dance. Glo introduced per second billing, something the early birds told us was impossible. It was akin to setting the captives free. Glo got Nigerians out of the financial imprisonment imposed on them by its predecessors. Simply put, Glo got Nigerians talking. The entrance of Globacom into the nation’s lucrative but capital-intensive telecom market changed many things for good. It did not only crash airtime and data cost, it was the first (and only) operator to make SIM card free in a rare promo that shamed the shylocks.

But beyond these plaudits, Globacom has become a metaphorical counterfoil to the shameful tags ascribed to Nigeria. It has answered the question: Can any good thing come out of Nigeria? The answer is Yes. Globacom is one beautiful thing that has come out of the nation. Again to the question, can Nigerians successfully manage an enterprise especially a tech-biased enterprise? To this, Globacom says ‘Yes we can!.’ Globacom’s healthy balance sheet, its network integrity and continuous investment in Nigeria and Nigerians stands it out as the most patriotic corporate citizen in the nation’s telecom firmament. Globacom’s success story in an industry once dominated by foreign companies keeps hope alive for Nigeria and Nigerians. And it’s all thanks to the vision, illustriousness and entrepreneurial acuity of its founder, Dr. Mike Adenuga, GCON.

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No Nigerian entrepreneur consistently ranked in the Forbes Billionaire list in living memory has exhibited more patriotism and love for country than Adenuga. In a nation with a long history of public sector thieves who steal from the national treasury and stash their loot away in foreign lands, it is soothing to know there are Nigerians who would at all times invest at home to create jobs and wealth.

But Adenuga is not a public servant, neither is he numbered among the crooks. He is a private sector player who has over the decades built his enterprise into a flourishing conglomerate. Ordinarily, Adenuga is not obligated to invest and keep reinvesting in Nigeria but he has remained an incurable patriot who believes that wealth at home is indeed the real wealth. Adenuga has kept his wealth in Nigeria, using same to create more wealth, empower the people and create jobs.  He is by far Nigeria’s most patriotic globally-certified billionaire entrepreneur.

One area Globacom has lavishly displayed its pan-Nigeria spirit and patriotism is in entertainment industry. From sports to music and Nollywood, Globacom towers above all in its commitment to the development of the entertainment sector.

It has become not just a Nigerian but an African company. Its flagship investment, Glo-1, is the first successful submarine cable from the United Kingdom to Nigeria, and Glo is the first individual African company to embark on such a massive project. The project translates to high speed internet services, faster, more reliable and cheaper telecom services for the public. Glo-1 will facilitate foreign investment and employment opportunities especially to Africans. The 9,800 km long cable originates from Brud in the UK and terminates at Alpha Beach in Lagos.

Globacom at 16 is not to celebrate a Nigerian company. It’s much more than that. It is a clear attestation that Nigerians can build Nigeria; it is a strong indexation that love for country is the most enduring and ennobling gift any one can give to his people. When some Nigerian citizens say, out of frustration, that Nigeria is a failed state, the story of Globacom reminds us that it’s morning yet on creation day. It’s a story that raises a hope-spangled banner for Nigerians. This country has the capacity for greatness and the seed for such preeminence is within us. Globacom is a Nigerian idea, birthed to life in Nigeria but now has its imprints in other countries. It’s a trophy every Nigerian should celebrate with a sense of national pride. It is our own story to silence the doomsayers.

When other operators upset our national economy through ceaseless repatriation of huge profits to their home countries, Globacom deploys its profit to build Nigerians and reflate the nation’s economy. That is patriotism. Nobody can love Nigeria more than Nigerians. Adenuga and his team have every right to gloat for silencing naysayers and doom-mongers who argue that nothing good can come out of Nigeria. Now we know: something good can come out of Nigeria. We have the evidence in Globacom.