By Olokuta Rofiat
Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo verbally attacked him during a heated exchange over diesel deregulation in 2004.
In excerpts from his upcoming memoir Making It Big: Lessons from a Life in Business, Otedola recounted that shortly after diesel deregulation began, Obasanjo called him at 2 am, shouting: “You’re a stupid boy! God will punish you! You persuaded me to deregulate diesel, and now there’s no diesel in the country!”
Otedola said he immediately flew to Abuja to meet the president, who continued the confrontation face-to-face. He maintained that there was adequate supply, blaming competitors and vested interests within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) for spreading falsehoods to sabotage the policy.
To counter the misinformation, Otedola said he placed newspaper adverts showing diesel availability and prices. He added that Obasanjo eventually believed his account and dismissed the claims of those opposing deregulation.
