Fatai Okoya, who claims to be the first child of billionaire businessman Rasak Okoya, is begging his father’s forgiveness after 40 years of estrangement, an open letter circulating on social media showed.

Mr (Fatai) Okoya has also appeared in social media videos seeking to mend fences with his father, who he claimed cut him off for marrying a woman he didn’t approve of. He and the said woman are no longer together.

In a question-and-answer live session with blogger Yeye Kudi Court Room, the son admitted he was young, naïve, and in love, and didn’t heed his father’s advice at the time, which led to the decades-long feud.

He said if he had embezzled “exorbitantly” from his father’s company, he would have bought an aircraft and acquired a chain of properties. But he admitted making money from his own gigs at the company, funds so insignificant that they had no impact on the company.

Mr (Rasak) Okoya, 86, is the head of the Eleganza Group of companies, which deals in making coolers, boxes, plastic chairs and so on. He is friends with the nation’s wealthiest people and holds a national honour of the Commander of the Order of Niger.

After four decades of being apart, the younger Okoya said he is remorseful for going against his father and seeks to reconcile with him.

“More than four decades have passed, and today, I write with a humble heart, putting aside all pride to say: Dad, I am truly sorry. Please, find it in your heart to forgive me,” he wrote in the open letter.

He explained that previous attempts to contact the business mogul had been futile, which is why he chose to write an open letter.

“No matter what has happened, you remain my father, and I will forever be your first child,” Mr (Fatai) Okoya said.

He further expressed his eagerness to reconnect with his father, saying time had already taken so much from them.

“Dad, we cannot turn back the hands of time, but we can choose to make the years ahead different,” he stated. “Life is precious, time waits for no one, and I do not want us to lose any more opportunities to love, forgive and reconnect.”

In the live video with Yeye Kudi, Mr (Fatai) Okoya said he had tried appealing to his father through some family members and friends, but the business mogul cut those mediators off.

“I love you, Dad. I miss you, and deep down, I still long for the blessing of having my father back in my life,” he stated. “Dad, I am truly sorry. My heart is open, my hands are extended, and my hope for reconciliation remains alive. Please, let us begin again.”

Shade Okoya, 49, is Mr Okoya’s last wife and the managing director of the Eleganza Group of companies. They have four children together, and her eldest daughter, Olamide, celebrated her introduction ceremony in April to Imran Gobir, son of the late Abubakar Garba Gobir, former Nigeria’s ambassador to Iraq.