Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed how his perception of veteran entertainer Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy or Area Fada, changed after witnessing his devotion to his parents.
Obasanjo, who initially admitted having little regard for the controversial entertainer, said Charly Boy’s unconventional appearance and lifestyle had shaped his first impression of him.
The former president made the revelation while appearing on Isbae U’s interview show, Curiosity Made Me Ask, where he was asked about his relationship with the entertainer.
Obasanjo said his opinion of Charly Boy began to change unexpectedly when he visited the home of the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Charly Boy’s father, without initially knowing that the house belonged to the entertainer.
“I didn’t regard Charly Boy; how would a man dress like a woman?” Obasanjo said, recalling his initial reaction to Charly Boy’s appearance.
He said his first impression of the entertainer’s home was also far from favourable, particularly after seeing a motorcycle outside the property.
“But when I went to visit Justice Oputa, it was at Charly Boy’s house. I didn’t know it was at Charly boy’s house, and the first thing that put me off was a motorcycle in front of the house. The way it was arranged in that house and I was like What is this?”
However, what Obasanjo encountered inside the house began to challenge his earlier perception.
He said he was struck by the way Charly Boy cared for his father, describing the entertainer’s commitment to Justice Oputa as the point at which he began to reconsider his opinion of him.
“Then I went inside the house and saw how Justice Oputa was taken care of and by whom, Charly Boy, and I started changing my mind about Charly Boy.”
According to Obasanjo, Charly Boy continued caring for his father until his death and later extended the same commitment to his mother.
“Until Justice Oputa died, Charly Boy took care of him and really behaved like a good child.
“He didn’t stop there, he did the same to his mother and I used to frequently visit the mother who was a great humorous woman, and Charly Boy took care of her as well until she died.”
For Obasanjo, Charly Boy’s treatment of his parents ultimately became more significant than the eccentric public persona that had initially put him off.
“And then I started changing my mind about him,” he said.
The former president also recalled a conversation in which he asked Charly Boy about his unconventional lifestyle and the seemingly chaotic persona he had deliberately cultivated over the years.
“One day I asked him, Charly Boy, what’s all this and he said oh that jaga jaga thing that I see, is to make chop chop,” Obasanjo recalled.
Rather than viewing the entertainer’s eccentricity solely as an oddity, Obasanjo said he eventually recognised the intelligence behind it.
“And he’s an intelligent boy. Because you can’t do jaga jaga and earn a living if you’re not intelligent,” he said.
Still, Obasanjo ended his assessment with the same dry humour that characterised his remarks about the entertainer.
“So now I like him a bit, not too much sha,” he added.
His late father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, was a respected former Supreme Court Justice.