Nigerian actress and media personality Temi Otedola has openly embraced the label of a “nepo baby,” saying she has no reason to deny the privileges and opportunities she has enjoyed because of her family’s background.
Speaking on a recent episode of The How Far Podcast, which she co-hosts with her husband, singer Mr Eazi, Temi said acknowledging privilege is simply a matter of honesty and does not diminish an individual’s hard work or achievements.
The daughter of billionaire businessman Femi Otedola argued that privilege extends beyond having famous parents, noting that it also includes growing up with financial security, access to quality education, and opportunities that many people do not enjoy.
“You don’t have to be famous to be privileged. Privilege is growing up in a situation where your parents had a certain amount of money, you didn’t have to struggle, and you had access to education, food and a foundation in life that not everybody gets,” she said.
Illustrating her point with a hypothetical example, Temi explained that nepotism occurs when family connections create opportunities that would otherwise be inaccessible.
“If our child wanted to become an artiste, you would introduce them to a producer and pay for their music video. That is an unfair advantage. That is nepotism,” she said.
She added that she has never shied away from acknowledging the advantages her background has afforded her.
“You can never catch me, on camera or off camera, saying I’m not a nepo baby. I find it crazy when people don’t admit to the advantage. It would be so unfair to say that,” she said.
Temi, however, stressed that recognising one’s privilege does not invalidate personal effort or accomplishments.
“At the end of the day, I was given a leg up, and I’ve made the most of it. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to say that. I think it’s because they feel it discounts what they’ve achieved in life.
“I definitely got lots of privileges as a result of the hard work that came before me,” she added.