Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he wished maverick entertainer Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, had resembled his late father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.
Obasanjo made the remark during his appearance over the weekend on the Curiosity Made Me Ask podcast hosted by comedian and content creator Isbae U.
The former president described the late Oputa as a great man, saying he wished Charly Boy had resembled him.
He said his initial impression of Charly Boy was shaped by his unconventional appearance and lifestyle, which made him had little regard for the foremost entertainer and activist.
“He has a good father, Justice Oputa. Oh, what a great man. I wish Charly Boy had resembled him,” Obasanjo said.
He recalled that his perception of Charly Boy began to change after he visited Justice Oputa, without initially realising that the late jurist was staying in Charly Boy’s home.
According to him, his attitude towards the entertainer later changed after seeing how he cared for his father.
“I saw how Justice Oputa was being taken care of. And by whom? Charly Boy,” he said.
Obasanjo said Charly Boy continued to care for his father until his death and behaved like a good son towards him.
He added that the entertainer also extended the same care to his mother, whom he described as a great and humorous woman.
“Then he didn’t stop there. He did the same to his mother.
“I used to frequently visit his mother. She was a great, humorous woman. Charly Boy took care of her as well. Then I started changing my mind,” he said.
Obasanjo said he initially regarded Charly Boy as a “jaga-jaga” person because of his public persona and unconventional dressing.
He, however, said the entertainer later explained that the eccentric lifestyle was for showbiz, characteristic of the ‘Charly Boy brand’.
“One day, I asked him, ‘Charly Boy, what’s all this?’ He said all those jaga-jaga things were to make chop-chop,” Obasanjo recalled.
The former president, who wrote the foreword of Charly Boy’s historic memoir ‘999’, described him as an intelligent person.
According to him, his ability to sustain the unusual persona over these years as a means of livelihood requires huge intelligence.
“You cannot do jaga-jaga to earn a living without being intelligent,” he said.
Obasanjo’s comments came during a wide-ranging and light-hearted conversation in which Isbae U also tested the former president’s knowledge of contemporary entertainment personalities.
The former president said he did not know some of the personalities presented to him, including music executive Don Jazzy, dancer Poco Lee and content creator Carter Efe.
He suggested that they might not be important people to him, before turning the questions around, asking Isbae U about prominent historical and international figures.
Obasanjo mentioned the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, recalling his interactions with members of the British royal family. (NAN)
