Business

Making it Big: Why l Dropped Out Of High School – Femi Otedola Reveals

Published

6 hours ago

August 19, 2025

Billionaire Femi Otedola recounts how his struggle with academics pushed him out of the classroom and into the world of business, where he would eventually build his fortune.

He chairs one of Nigeria’s largest financial groups and has built a multi-billion-dollar business empire. But Femi Otedola has now revealed that his rise was achieved without a university degree — or even a complete high school education.

In the newly released 286-page memoir, Making It Big, which hit the shelves on Monday, the energy mogul details how his struggle with academics pushed him out of the classroom and into the world of business, where he would later make his fortune.

Mr Otedola, 62, writes that he began his education at the University of Lagos Staff School in 1968 but consistently performed poorly. “My parents enrolled me at the University of Lagos Staff School in 1968, at the age of six,” he says. “Kola Abiola — the first son of Chief Moshood Abiola, the future business magnate and presidential candidate who was at the time an accountant — sat beside me in class.

“But there was something about academia and me; we were not compatible. I finished primary school in 1974 because I repeated a class. Even when I was allowed to pass, I consistently anchored the bottom rungs of our end-of-term examination results. My interests were definitely not in academia.”

After finishing primary school, the young Mr Otedola proceeded to Methodist Boys’ High School, Lagos. His academic struggles continued there.

“The school had been founded almost a hundred years earlier, in 1878. Alumni include grand names in Nigerian history: Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mobolaji Johnson, Ola Rotimi, Fola Adeola, Olusegun Osoba and Hezekiah Oladipo Davies. When I joined the student body in 1974 the principal was D. A. Famoroti, who’d taken up the post in 1963 and would leave in 1980,” he recalls. “I started Form 1 at age 12 and was there for three years.”

By 1977, after it became clear that his performance was not improving, his parents transferred him to Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, a boarding school founded by Southern Baptist missionaries in 1945.

“My parents’ thinking was that all my siblings were boarders, and they seemed to be doing well,” Mr Otedola writes. “They thought this change would help turn around my attitude towards academia, but nothing changed.”

He continues: “I started in Form 3 at Olivet, and as I rounded off the first year of my A Levels, my father was establishing his printing company, Impact Press, in Surulere, a residential and commercial district in Lagos State. I grew fascinated with the machines and told myself that my future would be inextricably tied to them. I managed to remain in school until the Lower Sixth examination was over. And then, I was finished; I never returned for my Upper Sixth.

“All I wanted to do was get involved in business. My father kept watch over me and drew me close. My sister taught me shorthand. I knew how to type and began typing letters for my dad. I prepared all his business correspondence. I was fascinated by the way printing machines treat paper. The white paper is placed on one end, the ink and plates are fixed, and the printed material comes out of the other end. It was captivating.”

Despite his mother’s protests and tears, Mr Otedola abandoned school to work full-time in his father’s printing business. He rose quickly, becoming managing director of Impact Press in 1987 at the age of 25.

“However, I soon became restless. I had immersed myself in all aspects of the business and learned the ropes at my dad’s right hand. I certainly enjoyed the job more than grappling with the Pythagoras theorem and struggling through homework at Olivet. As time went by, though, I also thought it was time for a measure of independence from my dad.

“I still wanted to work for him — I really enjoyed hearing the rumbling of machines and savouring the smell of freshly printed material — but I also wanted to do things differently. I told him I wanted to become a sales consultant for the press, and he agreed. He said he would pay me a commission of 10–15% on any work I brought in.

“That was a significant break for me. I invested my money in buying cars for sales and marketing outreach and moved on to the next phase in my nascent professional life.”

With his new role, Mr Otedola began bringing in jobs from major companies and advertising agencies, particularly in calendars and diaries.

“We could hardly keep up with the demand. Our unique selling point was quality, thanks to the state-of-the-art machines we owned. We were also always on time with job delivery. We were engaged in healthy competition with Academy Press, a company located in the Ilupeju area of Lagos.

“I served as my dad’s sales exec up until 1991, when he started his Lagos State gubernatorial campaign. It was a run for office — ultimately successful — that I had initiated.”

That break in the family business gave Mr Otedola the confidence and foundation to strike out on his own. In 1994, he founded Centre Force Ltd. with ₦10 million in starting capital. From those beginnings, he built a vast business empire in oil and gas, shipping, real estate, finance and philanthropy. He went on to chair Forte Oil, invested in power through Geregu Power Plc, and today chairs the board of FirstHoldco Plc, one of Nigeria’s largest financial groups.

The businessman’s disclosure of his educational history may come as a surprise to many who long believed he was a university graduate. At one point, his Wikipedia page even suggested he studied at the University of Lagos.

But in “Making It Big”, Mr Otedola insists his true classroom was not a lecture hall but the business floor. His lessons, he says, came from watching his father, trusting his instincts, and learning from both failures and triumphs.

“I never returned for my Upper Sixth. All I wanted was to get involved in business,” he writes. That decision, once a source of his mother’s tears, would lay the foundation for a career that has made him one of Africa’s most influential businesspersons.

In the end, Mr Otedola’s memoir delivers a striking message: formal education may have eluded him, but discipline, persistence, and the hunger to build made him — in his own words — “make it big.”

Buy Otedola’s ‘Making it Big’ Memoir At These Bookstores Across The World

Business

‘Business Owners Locked Out of Computer Village For Three Months’

Published

9 hours ago

August 19, 2025

The Daily Voice

For the past three months, over 40 business owners at Obehi Plaza in Computer Village, Ikeja, have been unable to access their shops after the plaza was sealed following a disputed incident involving Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials.

The incident dates back to May 24, when KAI operatives apprehended a street trader attempting to sell pastries to a security guard at a plaza adjacent to Obehi. According to witnesses, as the trader was being led into their truck, he threw his wallet to the guard. When the officials demanded the wallet back, the guard allegedly refused, sparking a heated altercation.

The clash reportedly spilled over into Obehi Plaza, where shop owners, concerned about the disruption, asked the officials to leave their premises. Witnesses insist there was no physical assault on the operatives, only a verbal exchange.

Shortly after, KAI officials departed, but days later, the entire plaza was sealed off, leaving businesses stranded. Shop owners say they were never issued any formal notice or explanation.

Today, frustrated by three months of forced closure, the affected traders staged a peaceful protest in Ikeja to demand the reopening of their shops. They expressed concern over mounting financial losses and the impact on their livelihoods, appealing to relevant authorities to intervene and bring a resolution to the standoff.

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Business

FG Invites Nigerians To Apply For N100k Interest-Free Loans. No Collateral Needed – Details Emerge

Published

1 day ago

August 18, 2025

The Daily Voice

The Federal Government has announced the rollout of interest-free loans of up to ₦100,000 for smallholder farmers, petty traders, and micro-business owners across Nigeria.

The initiative, under the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), will begin disbursements before the end of 2025, according to officials.

The disbursement will commence before the end of 2025, government officials explained in a recent statement.

Expert Predicts New Exchange Rates As Naira Crashes in Black Market, Rises 5.38% in Official Window

Speaking in Kaduna during an engagement with traders’ associations and stakeholders, programme managers said the intervention is part of ongoing efforts to reduce poverty and support informal businesses that drive much of Nigeria’s economy.

Under the scheme, small-scale farmers engaged in poultry, aquaculture, crop production, and livestock rearing will benefit from FarmerMoni.

Loans will allow them to purchase essential inputs such as fertilisers, veterinary drugs, and farm tools.

Petty traders and youth entrepreneurs will access funds under TraderMoni, while women in small-scale commerce will be supported through MarketMoni.

All loans will be disbursed without collateral or interest, making them accessible to Nigerians often excluded from conventional banking systems.

Officials confirmed that loan amounts will range from as little as ₦5,000 to as high as ₦100,000, depending on the scheme.

Beneficiaries will also enjoy a six-month grace period before repayments commence, giving them time to reinvest the funds into their businesses.

“These are not grants but repayable loans designed to help Nigerians grow their businesses, join the formal financial system, and create jobs,” the programme manager explained.

He added that robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks would be put in place to ensure accountability and sustainability.

To avoid abuse, the government is working with cooperatives and traders’ associations across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.

MSME Africa reported that the GEEP desk officers and field enumerators will oversee selection to ensure that only deserving beneficiaries are enrolled.

The scheme, first launched in 2016, has been restructured to address past challenges with delivery and accountability.

Officials said the 2025 pilot rollout would pave the way for broader nationwide implementation in 2026.

Business

After Petrol, Dangote Refinery Slashes Cooking Gas Price Lowest In Nigeria [Price Per State Emerges]

Published

4 days ago

August 15, 2025

The Daily Voice

Africa’s largest refinery, Dangote Refinery, has slashed the price of liquified natural gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas to the lowest in 2025, a few hours after cutting petrol rate, a move that has sent joy to Nigerian households.

This move came barely 24 hours after the refinery reduced its petrol prices to N820 per litre from N854.

Checks showed Dangote Refinery lowered the cooking gas price, easing hardship for Nigerians.

Checks by Legit on petroleumpriceng’s price data show that the refinery slashed the LPG price to N740 per kg, the lowest among depot operators and cheapest in Nigeria.

The latest price is also the cheapest the refinery has sold cooking gas in 2025 after rates jumped above N1,000 per kilogramme.

Experts have hailed the move as exemplary, urging other operators to follow suit. They also attributed the latest price cut to the declining crude oil prices in the international market.

Where it’s cheapest and costliest

Oyo, Plateau, and Yobe currently offer the lowest 5kg refill costs at ₦7,100, ₦7,200, and ₦7,600, respectively. For the 12.5kg size, Yobe leads with ₦19,000, followed by Niger (₦19,242.48) and Jigawa (₦20,025.94).

At the other extreme, the South-South zone records the highest average: ₦8,871.63 for a 5kg cylinder and ₦22,179.08 for a 12.5kg refill. In contrast, the South-West pays the least regionally—₦7,960.42 and ₦20,402.42, respectively.

A reversal of fortune for Nigerians
This development came after Legit.ng reported that cooking gas prices are on the rise again.

For the fifth straight month, cooking gas prices in Nigeria have risen, tightening the squeeze on household budgets.

According to fresh data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), refilling a 5kg cylinder now costs ₦8,323.95—up 1.92% from May’s ₦8,167.43 and a hefty 19.49% more than in June 2024.

The pain is sharper for larger households. A 12.5kg cylinder refill now costs an average of ₦21,010.56, marking a 1.46% rise from May and a staggering 33.52% jump compared to last year’s ₦15,736.27.

Crude oil prices slump
“International crude oil price is a great factor in setting petroleum product prices globally,” energy analyst and Team Lead at Platforms Africa, Adeola Yusuf, said.

According to him, falling crude prices mean falling petroleum product prices, and vice versa. Findings show that Brent Crude slumped 0.66% on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, to sell at $65.46 per barrel.

WTI fell 0.75% to sell for $62.35 per barrel, while Murban Crude sold for $67.52 per barrel, recording a 0.89% decline.

Why the surge won’t stop
Despite being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria imports much of its cooking gas.

This dependence makes local prices vulnerable to swings in the global market. Disruptions in supply chains, increased global demand, and geopolitical tensions have driven up costs worldwide.

The naira’s persistent weakness worsens the situation, as importers pay more to secure foreign exchange, passing the burden to consumers.