Generosity is an art. It is all about creating an unconditional and abundance of love and happiness for others. For real philanthropists, they are buoyed by their deep or inner satisfaction of impacting on the lives of their beneficiaries. Others venture into philanthropic activities because of their horrid experience with poverty and they see their deeds as a big deal but to energy tycoon, Femi Otedola, it’s a lifestyle.
Otedola, like his late father, Sir Michael Otedola, has demonstrated to be a very generous man whose heart is continuously flowing with abundant milk of human kindness. The stylish philanthropist has proved to be a pacesetter in terms of humanitarian gestures. Over the years, he has awarded multi-million naira scholarships to indigent students in Lagos State, especially those from his Epe homestead. About five years ago, Otedola expanded his milk of kindness when he pledged a contribution of N1 billion towards funding scholarships for indigent students in the state and sources said he has quietly surpassed that figure without making any fuss of his goodness.
Recently, in the face of other options to which he could apply his money and possibly earn material returns, Otedola graciously paid $50,000 for the medical treatment of national football hero Christian Chukwu abroad. He also footed the medical bills of Peter Fregene, former international goalkeeper. Prior to that commendable act of generosity to his fellow man, the billionaire had also opted for the moral choice to be his brother’s keeper when he came to the rescue of ailing veteran actor, Victor Olaotan by donating $100,000 (N36 million) to fund his treatment. Early this week, the billionaire businessman caused some sensation once more as he promised to take care of the medical expenses of ailing Nollywood actor, Sadiq Daba. In a statement on Sunday, Otedola said he was sad to hear that the veteran actor had fallen ill again. In 2017, Daba, who had been battling leukemia and prostate cancer for the past few years, returned to Nigeria having traveled to the UK for medical treatment. However, some critics are scoffing at Otedola’s gesture as being political gimmick or mere show off. But the unfazed wealthy businessman reiterated his desire to help more people with his wealth rather than to be wasteful like some of his associates who he claimed, spend as much as N50 million on choice champagne. “In my circle of friends, many people spend up to N50 million to drink champagne and generally ‘enjoy’ life, but at the end of it all what happens? It passes out of their body as waste. For me, therefore (and I also tell my friends) it is important to use such money to benefit others and put a smile on the faces of as many people as we can,” the business mogul said.
But Otedola is not all about philanthropy as he also leaves many in awe of his choice of luxury vacation. The energy tycoon who recently concluded the sale of his 75 per cent stake in Forte Oil, a publicly listed oil marketing company, to focus on his newest project, Geregu Power Plc, took his three charming daughters to Monaco for a family holiday. However, the very influential family took a break from Monaco as the proud dad flew his girls –Tolani, Temi and Ifeoluwa (DJ Cuppy)—to Italy for an hour to have some gelato: eat their favourite Italian ice cream while the netizens on social media went wild. Well, a very large number of Nigerians are not used to this type of luxury as many prayed to God to bless them and punish poverty while others made jokes of their situation.
The Otedolas are no stranger to going on holidays. At a point, a troll even questioned the billionaire businessman about his constant vacations and asked if he ever goes to work. Otedola’s classy response to the troll left social media users in frenzy. “As an entrepreneur, my role is to ensure that I hire a competent team to run my business affairs without my physical presence and, of course, one that outlives me. Mine is to nurture the team to maximize shareholder value,” he added. Final word: Money is good.