LIKE GOD, LIKE MAN, LIKE ADENUGA

-Chidi Uzor

According to the Holy books, Man is the only creature God made consultation before creation He is also the only creature that God made in His image "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the foul of air, and over the cattle " God told His council of elders or whoever they may be

But one thing is clear, God consults, and man is the product of such high-powered consultations The subject of this article is not God but about some salient chatacteristics he imbued in men, which some of us have wittingly or unwittingly allowed to be seen

This article is to celebrate Dr Mike Adeniyi Adenuga at 70 On Saturday, April 29, he joined the Septuagenerian club In a country where life expectancy is less than 50, it means he is living his second life after exhausting his first

I do not think it's important to use this occassion to continue to rehash how rich the man is, for there is no doubt that the man has acquired the wealth of a million men It's no doubt that the man is an entrepreneur of entrepreneurs, yours truly being a product of his overflowing cistern.

But i think what is important now is to point to those everlasting values he has imputed in us, which will live with us even when he has left these shores many many years to come for where they call the great beyond Where it is, I do not know, and why they call it great is left to our imaginations.

The purpose of this odyssey of Dr Mike Adenuga, is to reveal to him the impact he has made in our lives, some of the things he has been doing right without knowing, and some of the so-called abuses he hurls' at us his "subjects" which are interpreted differently by different people according to the spirit they come with For example, if you are an Adenugan, you must have heard at several times that "you do not have business sense"

Hod do you feel in spite of your so-called, hard-earned experience on the job? Many of us took it for insult But "please lower your chest" Is it not true? Yours truely knew he was right. I, indeed, lacked business sense and still lack some business sense

The other purpose is to let him know that many of us actually appreciate his impact in our lives and he has to know this while still alive There is no other thing we can give him There is actually developing an alumni of the Dr. Adenuga School of Thought. And he is not going anywhere soon

The nay sayers will argue that I'm speaking for myself and it does not in any way represent the general opinion about the man And i concur I once got a house and the landlady, an Igbo woman married to an Ijebu man, wanted to knoq my background I told her everything about me, including my sojourn in Glo As soon as i said that, she went into a long story

Of What People Say About Him

My response was simple Dr Mike Adenuga is an elephant and we, all his subjects are blind men We describe him from where we touched "Oh, it's a boney animal" for he who touched the tusks and any other hard part. "Oh, he is such fleshy and meat full animal" for he who touched the heaps and other fleshy parts

"I touched the fleshy part", I told the mummy So how do you expect a thief, a lazy scoundrel and one who causes harm and who received the summary dismissal to describe him There are others who suffered because of the sin of others and not because of their own sins

So what I'm going to describe herein are personal experiences with The Guru It's a testimony of sorts. Like God, Adenuga remembers no evil deed Just pray je does not take harsh action against you as it's hot One incident comes to mind

As usual, I was called to travel to South Africa to meet our creative team on a promotion project we were handling at the time

I was informed by one of his personal assistants to take some things to him in South Africa I was well instructed to take those things to him personally: I asked where he was and I was told my colleagues will leaad me to him and that I must deliver the things as soon as I arrive Johannesburg, South Africa I agreed to follow the instrutions But what happened, none of my colleagues agreed he knew where the Chairman was, let alone, tell me about it. You know nah. The fear of the Chairman is the beginning of wisdom

Who will you say directed you to the Chairman's hotel even when i did everything when I did everything to assure them it was his own directive through his PA? The safest way to escape me was to tell me they did not know But one person agreed he knew but told me bluntly he will not take me there, except the Chairman calls him to do that

What was the other option The Chairman might travel outside Johannesburg that night or the following day and must get what I brought for him I begged the man to take it to him, let my only disobedience be that I couldn't take it there myself I could explain that if he asks me Having been asssured that i had delivered the message, albeit wrongly, but at least obeyed the first instruction But my colleague took it to his room, put it in one corner and slept off

In the evening, the Chairman requested to meet with us I had prepared my defence for not bringing the materials myself But a surprise awaited me He had not reciebed the package and i was not with it As soon as he saw us, he welcomed us and immediately came for me "Chidi, Welcome, Where is my package? I looked like a fool. I looked sideqays to see my colleague He had disappeared I opened my mouth and closed and wanted to mutter some defence But Uncle Demola, his elder brother, came to my rescue He used his legs to press on mine to be quiet

He tried to change the topic, but the Chairman couldnt not bulge "But you were given strict instructions, and you didn't obey them At that point, I knew that if my Chi(God) does not intervene I wouls be going straight to my house from Johannesburg. And I agreed my sin was heavy enough for such a penalty "Did i sleep that night?" I can not remember He had announced at the meeting that we were going to meet our consultants the following morning

I had gone like aprodigal son, not knowung what my fate was But i had no choice I must, of necessity, attend The Guru, as he is popularly called entered about 10 30am, and the entire house of foreign experts stood

"Chidi stand up" Like a sheep meant for the slaughter, i stood up with my heart pumping at the greatest speed i can recall, "I bring to you Chidi Uzor, one of the most brilliant writers in our comapny He knows everything about this project has come to educate you. Ask him any question you want, and he will answer you on this project, but don't try to poach him You can not pay him "My heart almost jumped out of my body How can a villain of last night turn to a hero this morning?

Unbelievable Then, I remembered how God has used the not worthy persons to perfet His glory Adenuga shares that character with God There is another anathema in the Mike Adenuga Dynasty, or so, we were told Once you are given an instruction by the Chairman or his go-between, you must carry it to the latter, no questioning. It's anachornistic to challenge the instruction of the Chairman And the senior members make it look like that

I had a different belief I do not know where they got their idea of the man's infallibility Some of them will pass their own rules or orders and present it with the tag, the Chairman said So on this day, I was coming from Apapa, and the Chairman called me t give me instructions on what he wanted me to do First, I failed the first rule Nevel tell the Chairman that you were in an unfavorable disposition to take his instruction. I told him i was diriving and needed to pack to take his call He obliged me and waited for me to find a comfortable place And when i was read; the first question he asked me was whether i was safe enough to take the call To which i responded in the affirmative

The he passed the instruction and gave me the names of the people to use to achieve it I acepted the instructions but begged for an audience to which he obliged me I told him I would not use the people he had recommended because they would not give me the result I intendd to achieve what will happen? I will be squeezed out of existence, so i thought, but i was bold I did what i wanted and the result came out in flying colours Who was the first to call me the following day?

And his response was, "Chidi, you are the expert Use whoever you want " But i was taking a risk What if my preferred choice did not deliver?

The Chairman himself He was out of himself in excitement. "Nham Ukwu, Ji Kwa nwayo, obukwa aru mmadu", he exclaimed from the other side of the phone I was happy like a child parents just bought a toy for

Would I've been killed? No There was a similar incident when i had to use my initiative, but it didn't give the desired result And I called myself; Mr. Initiative you will see where this will land you True to my expectation, he called, but the worst did not happen H told me that what i did did not come out well and encouraged me to find other ways to do it He didn't even make suggestions, showing that he still trusted my initiative

I acknowleged that it was not the best i could and went to work The Chairman never referred to it, nor used it to raunt me throughout my stay He is the catch, people sell their initiatives blaming others, or do you say i was lucky.

One major character of the Chairman i do not see in the other employers I had worked for, is his special ability to follow up with the task he has given you to do No other employer calls you to thank you for doing the job he employs you to do, and for which he is paying you If every of my colleagues argues with me in every other thing, they will agree with me on this, except the Guru has changed And men seldom change at 60, let alone at 70 and not when those habits have brought them fortune or so it appears.

Adenuga does not forget I left Glo in 2009 It will be 14 years since I left this May And no Christmas has passed nor New Year without a card from a man with whom i spent just six years, working for This rare gift of his separates him from all the others I hope I learnt it But two years ago, he have me the shock of my life, and i still brag about it to my colleagues He gave me the gift of a car. Not eactly. The gift he gave me bought my wife a new car Which employer remembers a staff member 12 years after leaving his company? It's only God that does that Is Adenuga a god? I hear them cry blasphemy! I hear them cry idol worshiper But even when i was with him, I never worshipped him, but i honoured him and i was loyal

These are some of the qualities that humans should possess and for which God decided to make us in His image and in His likeness And if we deviate from these, then we are not of Him. I will dwell on day in the Den when he clocks 75