Femi Otedola at 63: Celebrating a consummate investor

BY DARLINGTON NWOBODO

The ultimate measure of a life is not in its longevity but the positive effect every strata of it has on the world inhibiting it. Likewise, the real value of wealth is not in the humongous figures displayed in our financial statements but the amount of light we generate and transmit to lighten up darkness in others, and by extention, make our society a better place to live. All men were born equally but will not be remembered equally when we must have lived our lives and exited the stage for up-and-coming performers in life’s stage to take over. In the bracket of life, time is used as a unit of destiny to remind us that we are on transit—the reason why we should thrive to live a life of impact while it is day because the inevitable night of death cometh.

Examining 63 years of Femi Otedola’s voyage on the ocean of life and the attendant impact his examplary lifestyle has had on his generation so far, shows that he understood this philosophy early on in life and began to set his life’s trajectory on the path that led to greatness. He was born into the family of Sir Michael Otedola on the 4th of November, 1962, two years after Nigeria’s independence. Despite coming from a privileged background he never allowed it create a mindset of complacency in him. The then young Femi fixed his eyes on the olympian height with a firm zeal to get to the top. Sixty-three years down the road of a purposeful life journey, Femi Otedola has become a colossus whose footprints have been engraved on almost every strategic sector of Nigeria’s economy and beyond via his entrepreneurial exploits.

From oil, gas, maritime, power, banking, real estate, etc., Femi Otedola has displayed his midas touch in these industries and successfully built a formidable business empire that will outlast him up to third generations. As a billionaire businessman, consummate investor and an astute entrepreneur, he has not only created wealth for himself but for Nigeria as a nation. Tens of thousands of Nigerians are gainfully employed today as a result of his entrepreneurial ingenuity. His investment has helped to drive growth of our economy. He is one of the lifewires of the nation’s private sector. Currently as chairman of Geregu Power PLC, and chairman of First bank of Nigeria, PLC, Otedola’s uncanny mastery of businessworld makes him a subject of study by our business schools, because he is a walking encyclopedia on how-to-run-succecessful-businesses.

His passion for mentoring young entrepreneurs is another exceptional quality of humanity service that stands him out. He believes in the school of thought that true wealth is in teaching others how to create wealth—turning stones to diamonds. This belief inspired his new book: “Making it Big”, that has become one of Amazon’s bestselling boooks in the recent, and social media sensation, especially amongs young and ambitious entrepreneurs. It is a book wittingly crafted and succinctly written; detailing entrepreneurial sojourn of one of Africa’s leading voices in the business hemisphere. A book worth the reading time of every aspiring entrepreneur.

As adept manager of material and human resources, Femi Otedola always remind young entrepreneurs that businessworld is like a turbulent sea that you can’t predict where the next storm might come—you have to be prepared for the good, the bad and ugly, in order to not be caught off guard. He uses every opportunity he has with young entrepreneurs to remind them not to see any setback as dead-end but to strive to come out stronger, better with more experience on how to stem unforseen circumstances in the world of entrepreneurship.

This spirit of never-say-never he has practically demonstrated when his business prospect nosedived. In 2008, Femi Otedola had 93 percent of the nation’s diesel market on his fingertips. The unexpected happened. He had one million tons of diesel shipment on the sea en route Nigeria’s shores when oil price crashed from $146 to $34, sending oil magnate into deep valley of indebtedness to the tune of $1.2 billion dollars. He did not give up, rather he fought his way back to the mountaintop of success. Today, he is amongst four Forbes’ recognised dollar-dominated billionaires in Nigeria.

Beyond his passion for business, Femi Otedola has consistently shown to be a true patriot, especially when it matters mostly. He was the first to blew the lid of the can of worms called fuel subsidy. His audacious revelations let Nigerians into what became biggest scandal and height of economic sabotage perpetrated by a cartel in the downstream sector. He has not stopped. He is fighting same cartel to see an end to importation of refined petroleum products into the country which is haemorrhaging the nation’s economy. His unflinching support to his friend cum ally, Aliko Dangote, to ensure success of Dangote Refinery is a public knowledge.

The struggle of the duo of Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola to make Nigeria self-sufficient in refined petroleum products has been the toughest business battle in the economic ecosystem of Africa. This battle to liberate Nigeria from the claws of oil cartel that makes a fortune from Nigeria’s pain and misery did not start today. Almost twenty years ago, a consortium led by Alhaji Aliko Dangote and his “lieutenant” Femi Otedola made bold move to buy Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries, respectively, during the twilight of President Obasanjo’s administration via privatization, but this great effort was reverted by successive government of President Musa Yar’Adua, thereby taking the nation back to square one; great loss for the nation and triumphant win for the oil cartel.

Despite the setback, Dangote and his ally, Otedola, did not give up on their patriotic quest to free the nation from oligopolistic stronghold of oil mafia that does not want our refineries to work for their own selfish interests at the expense of the country. From the ashes of the obstacle encountered by the consortium, Dangote Refinery was born! It became a child of necessity. Throughout this tumultuous journey of building the biggest refinery in Africa, Femi Otedola, has always been beside his friend and business partner; providing support at and when due. He has never shy away from throwing his weight in support of an ally whenever it is necessary; all for the overall interest of the nation.

When the history of Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in refined petroleum products will be written, posterity will honour Femi Otedola. His partnership with Alhaji Aliko Dangote to achieve this historic feat is unprecedented and quite commendable. It may interest you to know that the friendship of these duo did not start yesterday. It is not one united by wealth alone, but rooted in deep ideology and shared philosophy of business, investing and patriotism. It is a friendship that transcends ethnoreligious cleavages. Recently, Femi Otedola was seated right besides African richest man when Dangote Refinery announced its plan to upgrade its Refinery from 650,000 barrel per day (bdp) to 1.4 million barrels per day; making it largest petroleum refinery when completed.

As Femi Otedola celebrates his 63th birthday, it is not just another anniversary, but his efforts in the last one year to help Nigeria achieve self-sufficiency in local refining via his strong support for Dangote Refinery, should not only be highlighted but commended. This is the best birthday gift to Nigeria. It has a far-reaching effects: stronger foreign reserves, strengthened naira, massive job creation, energy security, etc.

The wedding of Femi Otedola’s daughter, Temi, to ace singer Oluwatosin Ajibade, aka Mr. Eazi, recently in Iceland, brought to fore again fatherhood traits of the billionaire investor. His mercurial conduct and electrifying speech during the event showed that his successes were not limited to his business exploits, he is equally successful as a husband and father to his wife and children, respectively. He elucidated how he bought two priced properties in highbrow neighbourhood of Dubai just to make his daughter happy.

One of the excerpts of the speech at event graced by captains of industries, celebrities, etc, reads: “Temi, I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. You found a great guy. Very great guy. Blessed guy. He comes from a very decent family. One thing I’ll advise you, Temi, is that you have to succumb to the whims and caprices of your husband. He’s your husband and he’s your boss. There’s no more dad. Don’t call me. So, one thing I like about both of you and I’ve observed is that you are truly in love with each other. Truly, truly in love with each other.”

Nwobodo writes via [email protected]