Nigerian billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has disclosed how banks once used “bewitching ladies” to secure his deposits and loans while his business empire was thriving.
Otedola revealed this in his upcoming biography, ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business’, which will be published by FO Books and released on August 18, 2025.
In passages from the book obtained by TheCable, the oil magnate described how a succession of financial disasters, including the global drop in crude oil prices and the devaluation of the naira, left his enterprises badly in debt and under enormous pressure.
“All told, I lost more than US$480 million to the plunge in oil prices, US$258 million through the devaluation of the naira, US$320 million because of accruing interest, and another US$160 million when the stocks crashed.
“It was devastating, like a terrible nightmare, but a nightmare would have been better: day would break, and I would wake up. There was no waking up from this,” Otedola wrote.
Speaking on how his fortunes changed drastically, Otedola said, “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, and 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 entered the Nigerian megabusiness scene with Zenon Petroleum, which evolved from selling fuel in drums to controlling the majority of the local market.
He also acquired African Petroleum in the downstream market and relaunched it as Forte Oil Plc, which was at the time one of the best-performing stocks on the market.
However, a diesel supply he bought in 2008 when crude oil was $147 per barrel did not arrive until the price had dropped to $40, leaving him in huge debt.
As a result of decreased currency inflows, the naira was devalued from N120/dollar to N167 in 2009, leaving Otedola with a twin problem: low diesel prices and hefty dollar liabilities.
