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Nigerian billionaire Mike Adenuga is to be conferred with the Nigerian national award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, the Nigerian government announced over the weekend. Adenuga, worth $4.3 billion by FORBES� estimate in March, will be the second Nigerian individual outside government to receive the award, which is Nigeria�s second highest national honor. Last year, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote became the first Nigerian outside government to receive the prestigious honor. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan nominated Adenuga for the honor in recognition of his immense contributions to the Nigerian economy. Adenuga�s companies, which span the energy, telecommunications and real estate sectors, employ several thousand people in Nigeria and Ghana. The Great Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) is the Nigeria�s second highest national honor, after the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) � an award which is only reserved for Nigerian Presidents and Heads of state. Up until last year, the GCON had only been awarded to Vice-Presidents, Chief Justices of the country and Senate Presidents. Also to be honored this year are 148 other distinguished Nigerians, including prominent entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, the former CEO of the United Bank of Africa and Chairman of Heirs Holdings. Elumelu is to be awarded with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). The 59 year-old Mike Adenuga, an extremely reclusive tycoon, got his start in business by selling lace materials and distributing sodas. In the 1980s, he started cornering lucrative state contracts by leveraging his formidable connections to military bigwigs. He went on to acquire deep offshore oil producing assets from the government and became the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities. Today, Adenuga�s firm, Conoil Producing is Nigeria�s largest oil exploration company, producing an estimated 100,000 barrels per day. The �Guru� as he is fondly called in Nigerian social circles also owns Globacom, Nigeria�s 2nd largest mobile telecom operator. The company has over 12 million subscribers.