‘NO MISUNDERSTANDING CAN BE SETTLED ONLINE’: OKOYA FAMILY RESPONDS

The family of billionaire businessman Razaq Okoya has disputed claims by his estranged son, Fatai, about their decades-long separation, stating that he continues to receive financial support from his father and has benefited immensely from the family.

The statement was issued on Thursday by Eleganza Industry Limited’s Senior Public Relations Manager, Nathaniel Omeninwan, in response to Fatai’s public appeal for reconciliation.

THE FAMILY’S REBUTTAL

The family accused Fatai of taking private family matters into the public domain to attract sympathy and discredit other family members.

While Fatai described himself as Okoya’s first child in his appeal, the family stated that he is actually the businessman’s third child.

“Fatai Okoya fell out with his father and stopped visiting him long before his father married Chief Mrs Shade Okoya,” the statement said.

THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The family maintained that Fatai had benefited substantially from his father and continued to receive assistance.

“Fatai Okoya has benefited immensely from his father and continues to benefit to date. He lives in, and has been given, four flats by his father in Ogunlana Surulere, and has at times been receiving payment for his medical bills,” the statement said.

The family also disclosed that four influential family friends had intervened in the dispute more than 40 years ago during an overnight meeting, after which Okoya agreed to settle Fatai with what he had requested.

THE SHADE OKOYA ALLEGATION

The family gave a different account of Fatai’s encounter with Shade Okoya during a medical outreach organised to mark Okoya’s 86th birthday.

Fatai had alleged that he attended the birthday celebration but was prevented from approaching his father by Shade.

However, the family said Shade was introduced to Fatai during the medical outreach, after which another family member advised him that the occasion was not an appropriate time or place to discuss his grievances with his father.

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“On that advice, which Fatai Okoya agreed with, he left the medical outreach venue. Other than exchanging pleasantries with him, Chief Mrs Shade Okoya said nothing to him that day, and several guests witnessed the entire incident,” the family stated.

THE CALL FOR PRIVACY

The family urged the public and media organisations to respect its privacy.

“Aare and Chief Mrs Okoya, and indeed the entire Rasaq Okoya family, are very quiet, private and easygoing citizens focused on their family, their charitable work and their businesses,” the statement said.

“No misunderstanding can be settled online,” it added, urging any family member with a grievance to address it privately through established family channels .

WHY IT MATTERS

The Okoya family’s statement is a direct challenge to Fatai’s narrative.

Fatai presented himself as a neglected son, denied access to his father for decades. The family presents him as a beneficiary who has received four flats and ongoing financial support, and who chose to air a private dispute in public.

The truth may lie somewhere in between. But the family’s decision to respond publicly suggests that Fatai’s appeal has touched a nerve.

ValidViewNetwork reports that Fatai has not responded to the family’s statement. The feud continues.