Nigerian billionaire businessman and Chairman of First Bank Holding, Femi Otedola, has revealed that his decision not to pursue university education stemmed from his lack of interest in academics and his passion for business.
The oil magnate made this disclosure in his newly released 286-page memoir, launched on Monday, where he recounted his early life, education, and the defining choices that shaped his career path.
Otedola explained that his parents enrolled him at the University of Lagos Staff School in 1968, when he was just six years old. However, from an early age, he struggled academically, consistently performing poorly in examinations despite being promoted to higher classes.
“But there was something about academia and me; we were not compatible,” he wrote. “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 primary school, Otedola entered secondary education, starting Form One at age 12 and continuing for three years before moving to Olivet Baptist High School, where he began his A-Level studies.
It was during this period, he recalled, that his father established Impact Press, a printing company in Surulere, Lagos. The young Otedola became captivated by the printing machines and quickly realized that his future lay in business rather than academics.
“As I rounded off the first year of my A Levels, my father was setting up his printing company. 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,” he revealed.
Otedola added that his father supported his ambitions and closely monitored his journey as he gradually found his path in entrepreneurship — a decision that would later shape him into one of Nigeria’s most influential businessmen.
