Femi Otedola, billionaire businessman, has revealed details of a tense clash with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, when the liberalisation of diesel importation triggered a wave of misinformation that almost turned the president against him.
The account, contained in Otedola’s forthcoming memoir Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business—set for release on August 18, 2025—describes how Obasanjo, misled by reports of a nationwide diesel shortage, accused the oil magnate of betraying his trust.
At the time, Otedola’s Zenon Petroleum had convinced Obasanjo that the private sector could fully meet Nigeria’s diesel demand without the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which had been importing the fuel below market prices and claiming subsidies from the federal government.
“When President Obasanjo deregulated diesel in 2004, Zenon took an unassailable lead in the market,” Otedola wrote. “My opponents ran to the president, claiming the economy was on the brink because there was no diesel, and Obasanjo was furious with me.”
According to him, the misinformation painted a picture of grounded trucks, shuttered industries, and empty filling stations. The pressure culminated in an irate 2am phone call from Obasanjo.
> “‘You’re a stupid boy! God will punish you!’ he shouted. ‘You persuaded me to deregulate diesel, and now there’s none in the country!’”
The next morning, Otedola flew to Abuja, where Obasanjo again confronted him face-to-face, yelling, “What kind of rubbish is this? What kind of nonsense is this?”
Once the president calmed down, Otedola countered the claims: “Baba, they’re lying to you. I have six ships waiting to discharge large supplies of diesel. I’m even paying demurrage because I can’t offload quickly enough.”
He suggested running adverts on the front pages of national newspapers to publicise diesel availability and market prices, aiming to dispel public panic and push back against critics.
Otedola blamed the NNPC’s entrenched interests for the false reports, accusing them of resisting deregulation to preserve the lucrative subsidy system.
In the end, he said, Obasanjo—known for his strong will—sided with him, dismissing the naysayers once convinced of the facts.
The 2004 policy shift made diesel the first petroleum product in Nigeria to be fully deregulated, removing subsidies and ending a rent-seeking culture in its trade.
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