I have not finished reading the book but have been inundated by requests from so many people to reply Feyi Fawehinmi’s long review
I must confess that from what I have read, this person read the book thoroughly hence the well marshalled out points
But what I didnt miss was his/her cynicism which ran through the very long write up
The writer struggled really hard to paint FO as a simpleton who relied only on street smart to ‘make it big’ while taking advantage of a flawed system
This to me, is attempting to take away a very large chunk of FOs credibility having after building one of Africas largest business Empires
Who in this country has not taken advantage of this reoccurring flawed system
From the man on the street who will not pay his tax to the President who would rather rule from his whims than as the constitution dictates?
Furthermore, as I read the review, i sense a condescending look down on the man, carefully hidden under very shallow beautiful language
The kernel of the writers push is a side eye look at whatever achievement FO has achieved with the hope that readers would look at his story not with an inspiring mien but as a ‘camel in the eye of a needle’ scenario of a journey man who got lucky
Anybody who has run a business talk less at the size Otedola has done would see thru Otedolas self deprecating mode in his writing
He would never have been able to build the huge empire he did if he truly didn’t have the effective structures or advisers that was required to engage international counterparties to deliver the kind of efficiency he needed to take 90% of the market.
If you have had personal conversations with FO, one thing he would leave you with will be his faux attempt at humility.
He would always come across as the ‘boy next door’ trying so had to make you feel that he is just as simple as the next guy and this has shown in this his book that has now blind sided this writer
Comparing him to the global entrepreneurs who were vision driven or who had technical capability and as a result coming up with whatever conclusions he has tried to come up with is a huge faux pas.
A further goof is trying to poo poo his calculations on the tonnage or whatever it was they were trying to achieve with this
That particular line reminds me of the legendary Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company who was famously not very technical and when asked some technical questions retorted that his job was to surround himself with those who could do the job.
The industry at the time Zenon climbed to the top was cut throat.
It was riddled with competition, strict regulations and allsort of underhand practices which led to gross inefficiency which saw demand far out weigh supply leading to scarcity and its attendant impact on pricing.
If the Government saw a serious player who had better positioned itself in providing efficiency why would it not support it even if it could throw up the spectre of a monopoly.
Saying that after Zenon, there has been no real margin push by FO despite his foray into other areas like Finance and Real Estate still plays into the tiring theme of the write up showing FO as a simoletin who got lucky simply by positioning himself by colecting rent from the system
This blights one of the most iconic business careers in the country and attempts to unsuccessfully downgrade its enormous spot light while painfullt hiding under a thinly veiled but very poor attempt at an objective literary venture
Let me leave it here for now till I finish the book
Just felt like saying this one for now
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu