Femi Otedola, the Nigerian Billionaire businessman has recounted how former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, convinced him to single-handedly fund the completion of the National Ecumenic Centre in Abuja with a donation of ₦300 million.
Otedola in an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, Making It Big, revealed that the request came during a breakfast meeting with the former president at his Ota farm in Ogun State in late 2005.
Otedola recalled, “He was very warm, friendly and jovial that time around. As we were eating, he would take yam from his plate and put it on mine. Same with some fried eggs. I was wowed. He’d won my heart.”
According to Otedola, Obasanjo shifted the conversation to a stalled national project.
He said, “‘Femi,’ he said, ‘you know what I like about you? You have what everybody wants: money. I need you to kick-start the completion of the Ecumenical Centre in Abuja. I can’t use government money.’”
According to the former president, the project which he discovered was the abandoned interdenominational church project, also known as the National Christian Centre, on his way to the airport and pledged to see it completed without government funds.
When Otedola asked how much was required, Obasanjo replied, ₦300 million, suggesting he could make a “small donation” to get things moving.
“No, Baba. I’ll do it all, anything for God,” Otedola said he responded.
The oil magnate said that within two days, on a Friday, he delivered a bank draft for the entire amount to Obasanjo’s Abuja office.
He said, “Baba, here’s the draft,’ I told him. But he said, ‘No, I can’t take it just like that. We need a witness. I need to make this public.”
Although Otedola preferred to remain anonymous, the former president insisted the donation be publicised to inspire other wealthy Nigerians to contribute. The presentation was eventually broadcast on national television by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Following the donation, the National Ecumenical Centre, conceived as a national Christian monument comparable to the National Mosque, was completed after years of abandonment due to lack of funds.