He encouraged us to forge our own paths — Temi Otedola on lessons from her billionaire father

Temi Otedola shared her thoughts on privilege, personal growth, and the life lessons she has drawn from her father, billionaire businessman Femi Otedola.

Responding to questions about whether being the daughter of a wealthy businessman automatically gives her an advantage, Temi was forthright.

“I would highly disagree with that. And I don’t think it’s fair for people to hear that because it kind of… it makes you actually ungrateful for your privilege and the opportunities you’ve been given. Maybe the caveat I would add is that, you know, you could give somebody a leg up in life and it’s what they do with it,” she said in a candid interview with BBC.

Reflecting on her father’s influence, Temi highlighted the lessons of resilience and determination that inspire her most.

“The thing that inspires me most about my father, and he touched on heavily in the book, is that even when you feel like you’re at the end or you’ve fallen so low that you don’t think you can get back up… he’s very honest about when he was at the lowest of his life and how he thought there was actually no way out at that time.

“But it is his resilience. It’s that faith that if you pick yourself back up and you kind of recentre yourself on your dreams, there’s always a way back,” she shared.

Temi also reflected on how her father encouraged her and her sisters to carve their own paths rather than follow directly in his footsteps.

“It ends up being a blessing because he encouraged us to forge our own paths. He was not that father who was like, ‘Okay, this is the family business you’re going to take after me.’ He actually allowed us to come out of his shadow in many different ways, which is fantastic,” she said.

Acknowledging the advantages of her upbringing, Temi emphasized the importance of recognizing privilege while also taking personal responsibility.

“Oh, absolutely. I’m never, you’ll never hear me on record saying it doesn’t.

“I think it’s very important for people who are privileged, and especially people who are born into privilege, to acknowledge that leg up they’ve gotten in life. It would be very unfair to say that I’ve gotten no opportunities or it’s been an even playing field,” she stated.