How banks sent ‘slay queens’ to Otedola – then deployed thugs when his billions vanished

Billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola has recalled on the ugly side of Nigerian banking, reminiscing the kind of betrayal that’ll make even seasoned tycoons wince.

In explosive excerpts from his upcoming memoir, “Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business”, set for release on August 18, the oil magnate recounts how banks that once wined and dined with him, sending pretty-faced marketers, turned on him with thugs and threats the moment his empire began to crack.

“One moment, I was the darling of the banks… they’d send bewitching ladies to offer deals. The next, I was waking up to barrel-chested thugs outside my gate,” Otedola wrote.

The businessman detailed how a single diesel shipment in 2008, bought at $147 per barrel, but delivered after the crash to $40 triggered a storm that nearly wiped him out. Add a naira devaluation from N120 to N167, ballooning interest payments, and the stock market crash… and the billionaire was staring down billions in losses.

“I lost more than $480 million to the plunge in oil prices, $258 million through devaluation, $320 million in interest, and $160 million from stocks crashing,” he said.

But what stung more than the money was the swift transformation of smiling bankers into enforcers at his gate.

“It was worse than a nightmare. I was under siege. The same banks that begged for my signature sent thugs after me.”

Otedola’s upcoming memoir is expected to reveal more secrets about Nigeria’s corporate underworld, certainly, where boardroom charm can quickly become street-heat.