Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has revealed that his perception of veteran entertainer Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, changed after he witnessed the care the entertainer gave to his parents.
Obasanjo made this known while appearing on the Curiosity Made Me Ask podcast hosted by comedian and content creator Isbae U on Saturday.
The former president said he initially had little regard for Charly Boy when they first became acquainted, but his opinion changed after he visited the entertainer’s home and saw how he cared for his father, the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.
“When I first came to know Charly Boy, I had no iota of regard or respect for him,” Obasanjo said. “But when I went to visit Joseph Oputa, it was in Charly Boy’s house. I didn’t know it was in Charly Boy’s house.”
He continued, “I saw how Joseph Oputa was being taken care of, and by whom? Charly Boy. So, I started changing my mind about Charly Boy. Until Joseph Oputa died, Charly Boy took perfect care of him.”
According to Obasanjo, Charly Boy also showed the same level of commitment in caring for his mother, whom the former president said he visited regularly and remembered as a humorous woman.
Obasanjo also recalled questioning Charly Boy about his unconventional public persona, saying the entertainer explained that his eccentric appearance and behaviour were part of his strategy for making money.
“Then one day I asked him, ‘Look, Charly Boy, what’s all this?’ He said all those jaga-jaga things that I see are to make chop-chop,” Obasanjo recalled.
The former president spoke highly of Justice Oputa, describing him as one of the Nigerians he respected most and expressing regret that Charly Boy did not resemble his father more closely.
“He has a good father, Justice Oputa. Oh, what a great man. I wish Charlie Boy had resembled him,” he said.
Despite his earlier reservations about Charly Boy’s public image, Obasanjo acknowledged his intelligence, arguing that sustaining such an unconventional persona as a means of earning a living required a considerable level of intelligence.
