Fatai Okoya, who identifies himself as the first child of billionaire businessman Razaq Okoya, has appealed to his father for forgiveness after decades of estrangement, attributing their disagreement to a money dispute and his marriage to a woman his father reportedly disapproved of.

Fatai made the appeal during a TikTok Live session with blogger Yeye Kudi Court Room on Monday, recounting his attempts to reconcile with the founder of Eleganza Group and his disappointment over an alleged encounter at the businessman’s 86th birthday celebration.

He said the rift began when he was younger after he took a small amount of money from his father’s company, adding that he did not consider the sum substantial enough to warrant years of separation.

“I did not embezzle much money, if it was much, I would have built house and bought planes and cars,” he said in Yoruba.

Fatai also blamed his decision to marry a woman his father did not approve of, saying he was young and in love at the time.

He said he had made several attempts to reconcile with his father and wanted an opportunity to meet him again.

“I have tried to make peace for 40 years,” he said.

Recounting his experience at the birthday celebration, Fatai alleged that he was initially welcomed but was later prevented from approaching his father.

Fatai added that he was told his father had to be informed before he could see him.

“But my father did not have anything to say. So I had to turn back and go and sit down in my chair,” he said.

He maintained that his appeal was not motivated by a desire for financial assistance but by a wish to rebuild his relationship with his father.

He also alleged that he had tried to reach the businessman through friends and intermediaries but had been unable to secure a reunion.

Fatai’s daughter, identified as Zee during the session, also joined the conversation, saying she had no relationship with her grandfather and wanted to help her father reconcile with him.

She said she knew her father missed his father after years of separation.

The host appealed to people close to the businessman to help facilitate a reunion, specifically calling on Chief Kesington Adebutu, popularly known as Baba Ijebu, a friend of Razaq Okoya, to intervene.

Renewing his appeal, Fatai asked his father to forgive his past behaviour and give their relationship another chance.

“I’m begging my father. To err is human, to forgive is divine. He should please overlook all my behaviour then as a child. He should please see that I, too, am a grown man. He should use his elderly wisdom to embrace us and bring us back to the family so that the issue can be settled once and for all,” he said.

Fatai said he and his father had been close while he was growing up and that he was the only child his mother had with the businessman.

—By Okiki Adeduyite