Femi Otedola has revealed Obasanjo once called him ‘stupid boy’ over diesel crisis in 2004.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has shared a fiery encounter with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who once called him a “stupid boy” during a heated exchange over the deregulation of diesel in Nigeria.
The revelation is contained in Otedola’s upcoming memoir, “Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business”, where he provides behind-the-scenes insights into Nigeria’s oil sector reforms and his role in shaping them.
According to excerpts from the book, the incident happened in 2004 after Zenon Petroleum, Otedola’s company, took a commanding lead in the diesel market following the federal government’s decision to deregulate diesel importation, a move reportedly influenced by Otedola and other private sector stakeholders.
“When President Obasanjo deregulated diesel in 2004, Zenon took an unassailable lead in the market,” Otedola wrote. “My opponents’ reaction was to tell the president that we’d turned the market upside down… and that industries were shutting down because there was no diesel.”
Otedola recalled receiving an angry phone call from Obasanjo at around 2 a.m. after reports of diesel scarcity surfaced nationwide.
“‘You’re a stupid boy! God will punish you!’ he shouted. ‘You persuaded me to deregulate diesel, and now there’s no diesel in the country!’”
Otedola said he immediately flew to Abuja the next day to clarify the situation. He claimed that six ships loaded with diesel were waiting to discharge, and he showed letters of credit as proof. According to him, some officials within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) deliberately withheld information to sabotage deregulation and protect their vested interests in the fuel subsidy regime.
In response, Otedola began publishing diesel availability and prices in newspapers to counter the misinformation and reassure the public.
He described Obasanjo as a “robust and determined” leader who, despite the outburst, ultimately stood by those he trusted.