Chief Femi Otedola, a popular businessman, who is one of the few Nigerians with deep pockets, has disclosed that commercial banks in the country did all they could to curry favour with him when his business empire was flourishing.
The financial institutions in question, he noted, sent ‘sexy babes’ to woo him and secure deposits and loans.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that Chief Otedola made this disclosure in his memoir, ‘Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business,’ published by FO Books and scheduled to be released on August 18, 2025.
‘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.
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’ he wrote-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079, 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
