5-8-2025
Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola has revealed how Nigerian banks desperate to keep his money and also get him loans sent “bewitching ladies” after him.
Otedola whose business span manufacturing, oil and gas made this disclosure in his memoir titled ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business.”
“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,” he said.
“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.”
He recounted in the memoire how multiple financial crises, including the global crash in crude oil prices, devaluation of the naira, and stock market collapse, wiped out a significant portion of his wealth, leaving his businesses deeply indebted.
“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.