Billionaire entrepreneur Femi Otedola has opened up in regards to the dizzying highs and crushing lows of his enterprise empire, revealing how banks as soon as deployed engaging ladies to lure him with juicy provides, solely to later ship intimidating debt collectors when fortunes reversed.
The oil magnate made the disclosure in his upcoming memoir, Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business, printed by FO Books and scheduled for launch on August 18, 2025.
In excerpts obtained by TheCable, Otedola paints a vivid image of Nigeria’s high-stakes enterprise setting, the place {financial} establishments spare no tactic to safe big-ticket purchasers.
“One moment, I was the darling of the banks, who did everything in the world to court me, do business with me, give me loans, take deposits from me,” Otedola wrote.
“They would send bewitching ladies to make their offers more convincing. And then, in the blink of an eye, I was waking up to the sight of hefty, barrel-chested men standing menacingly in front of my gate, waiting for the moment I’d step out of my compound.”
The memoir particulars the seismic shocks that shook Otedola’s empire: an ideal storm of collapsing crude oil costs, forex devaluation, and inventory market crashes that worn out a staggering portion of his wealth.
“All told, I lost more than $480 million to the plunge in oil prices, $258 million through the devaluation of the naira, $320 million because of accruing interest, and another $160 million when the stocks crashed,” he revealed.
READ ALSO: Otedola Exposes Banking Tactics, Business Collapse in Upcoming Memoir
Otedola rose to prominence by way of Zenon Petroleum, which began by promoting diesel in drums and grew right into a market chief earlier than his acquisition of African Petroleum, later rebranded as Forte Oil Plc. At its peak, Forte Oil was a star performer on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, cementing Otedola’s standing as one in all Africa’s most influential businessmen.
However, a pivotal choice in 2008 proved catastrophic. Otedola positioned an enormous diesel order when crude traded at $147 per barrel — just for the cargo to reach after costs plunged to $40, leaving him saddled with crippling losses.
Matters worsened in 2009 because the naira depreciated from ₦120 to ₦167 per greenback, amplifying his dollar-denominated debt burden amid a collapsing diesel market.
The memoir, business watchers say, is not only a private story however a cautionary story in regards to the volatility of rising markets, the fragility of enterprise success, and the ruthless nature of monetary relationships.
“The book is my truth,” Otedola writes, “a story of resilience, survival, and the hard-earned lessons every entrepreneur must learn before it’s too late.”
