Billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, has shared details of how banks that once courted him during his financial peak became hostile after his business fortunes declined in 2009.
In excerpts from his upcoming memoir titled “Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business,” slated for release on August 18, 2025, Otedola described the financial crisis that followed a major business setback and how the reaction from financial institutions changed drastically.
Otedola, who rose to prominence through Zenon Petroleum and later acquired African Petroleum, renamed Forte Oil Plc, said trouble began after a diesel shipment he ordered in 2008, when crude oil was priced at $147 per barrel, was delivered after the market had crashed to $40 per barrel.
The sharp drop in oil prices, combined with a naira devaluation from N120 to N167 per dollar in 2009, led to severe financial losses.
“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,” Otedola wrote.
He said the crisis turned banks that had previously courted him with offers and incentives, often using attractive female marketers, into aggressive creditors.
“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. They would send bewitching ladies to make their offers more convincing, and now 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.”
Otedola described the experience as more harrowing than a nightmare, noting that there was no escape or relief from the financial pressure he faced during that period.
