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Tag: Charly boy

  • Charly Boy defends Bruce Jenner

    Charly Boy defends Bruce Jenner

    It is no longer news that Bruce Jenner, former Olympic athlete, Chris Jenner’s soon-to-be ex husband, and father /step father to the Khadarshian/Jenner clan has undergone gender reassignment surgery, and is now transiting into a woman. His decision has however spawned a deluge of reactions across the globe. In the Vanity Fair cover line in the June edition of the magazine, titled Call me Caitlyn, the 65-year-old grandfather and patriarch of the Khadarshian/Jenner clan says “Call me Caitlin”.

    Jenner goes on to say “If I was lying on my deathbed and kept this secret, and never ever did anything about it”, I would be lying there saying “You just blew your entire life”.

    Even though Jenner only just had the surgery, it was a long time coming. As far back as 1972, he had considered having the procedure as confirmed by his first, now ex wife, Chrystie Scott. Scott admits that his desire to change his sex was not a factor in ending their marriage, although it was in the second. His second wife Linda Thompson confirmed that he suffered from gender dysphoria

    Jenner is the first celebrity to openly admit being transgender, and this has led to an avalanche of reactions from his country, the United States, and all over the world. He garnered an outpouring of support from a majority of U.S. residents, many congratulating him for having the courage to follow his dreams and become what he wants to be.

    The story is however very different in Nigeria. A large majority of Nigerian respondents on Facebook and Twitter showed their aversion to Jenner’s choice. Save for the self acclaimed Area Fada, Charly Boy. Charly Boy, real name Charles Oputa, who claims to have a female side called Linda. He wrote, “I must ask you this question. In our pursuit for (sic) happiness, do we focus on the dictates of life based on our social environment, or on our own personal need of what makes us individually happy?

    For the past few days the global social media has been agog with Bruce Jenner sex change story, he now wishes to be called Caitlin. Surfing through some of our local blogs, I have read some yahoo yahoo comments from Nigerians who feel that their yeye comments are of any importance in the decision taken by this great Olympian, now gender bender . . .  My take. It is not ones masculinity or feminity alone that defines ones identity. It is the harmony between the two that determines how comfortable and integrated ones identity is going to be. In other words, shocking as this may be to the more macho in our midst, inside some men lies an unexpressed woman.“

  • Charly Boy swarms Facebook with Afrocentric photos

    Charly Boy swarms Facebook with Afrocentric photos

    Musician, actor, producer, and Area Fada, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, seems to be ever evolving. Last Tuesday, he posted creative Afrocentric pictures of himself, and his wife on Facebook, leading to a lot of comments on the social media website.

    While some people praised the pictures for creativity, others slammed it for being eccentric, and unbefitting of his age, and status. Charly Boy will be 64 on June 19.

    The six picture collages saw the couple in semi-nude postures in various settings. In a collage titled ‘The first temptation of Eden’,  Lady Di is seen with an apple, while Charly Boy presents, as Adam, in a replication of the biblical story of the Eden garden. Another collage has the couple on a hay stack, also clutching a baby. In a third collage, they are clothed in Egyptian style, with make-up to match. In some other shots, Charly boy also strikes a pose as a Roman fighter, complete with a sword.

    Alongside the pictures, Oputa also posted a poem written by his daughter, Miss Dewy Oputa, eulogising her family’s romantic affiliations.

    ‘For over 37 years, they have been mirrors to each other,’ Dewy Oputa wrote.

    ‘Looking at the following pictures one can understand the soulfulness of this union.

    May the love that they exude expand our perception of what a soul mate really is.

    I have witnessed my grandparents holding hands till my grandfather (Justice Oputa) passed on.

    I have watched my parents Charles/Diane carry on as two inseparable buddies, bound together by an unusual friendship, not hinged on attraction or sexuality.

    I pray that I too will eventually find a soulmate who will be my best friend.’

    Charly Boy, a grandfather, achieved national fame as President of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), and producer cum presenter of ‘Zoom Time’, a celebrity lifestyle magazine television program which ran on national television in the late 90s, and early 2000s.

  • Charly Boy launches website

    Charly Boy launches website

    Following today’s trend of owning personal websites, musician, actor and producer, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, has launched his personal website. To this end, fans of the avowed punk star can now get to check out the latest about him on www.charlyboy.org.

    On the website, Charly Boy expresses his art in an entertaining manner with texts and pictures. He also has a section he dedicates to ‘Charly’s Virgins’ which contains salacious pictures of women and couple in love-making positions.

    According to Charly Boy, the Charly’s Virgins’ section ‘is for those who understand that virginity is the purity of heart, purity of spirit and positivism of soul.’

    The website maintains a section which publishes views of Charly Boy’s fans which is aptly titled ‘Viewers Opinion.’

    In addition, the controversial Charly Boy also maintains a blog where he writes in provoking manner.

  • Okorocha, Senate and Charly Boy

    Within the last two weeks or so, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has found himself embroiled in some controversy. During the burial church service of erudite legal icon, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa in his country home Oguta, the first son of the late Justice, Charles Oputa alias Charly Boy reportedly snatched the microphone from the officiating priest after he had called on Okorocha to speak thus preventing him from addressing the distinguished audience. Charly Boy rationalized his action on the grounds that he did not want his father’s burial to be politicized.

    A visibly enraged Okorocha was said to have maintained his cool and later left the church with his entourage. Charly Boy’s strange conduct no doubt, took the audience by surprise and adversely affected the entire burial arrangement as many of those in attendance did not bother to follow the corpse to its final resting place.

    Imo State government has since been griping over the incident. It did not only deprecate Charly Boy’s conduct but has gone ahead to adduce reasons why he acted the way he did. In a well publicized statement, the state government went at length to show that before the burial day, there was no misunderstanding between Charly Boy, the Imo State government or Governor Okorocha. The only matter, for which the government initially disagreed with the Oputa family they said, was the burial programme which the government considered lopsided and subsequently set up a new committee that came up with a more befitting programme.

    It therefore came to the seemingly inevitable conclusion that Charly Boy “acted out an ill-motivated script drafted by some politicians from the state, based in Abuja who have sworn to disturb the peace of the state”. For the government, those who sponsored this ‘coup’ inside a church were intimidated by the hilarious ovation that greeted the earlier introduction of the governor and they feared a repeat should Okorocha be allowed to speak.

    The state government is within its rights to view the matter the way it chooses. This is especially so given that the incident showed no respect for the office of the governor. If Okorocha is seriously piqued by that treatment, his feelings ought to be appreciated. He is the governor of the state and deserves all the respect that goes with that office. To have been publicly prevented from speaking at that occasion and inside the church, Charly Boy showed scant regard for his high office and should be condemned by all right thinking people. It was a bad example of how to pay last respect to his distinguished father.

    Yet, it is difficult to swallow hook, line and sinker the claim by the government that his conduct was the outcome of a script crafted for him by politicians from Imo State in Abuja. If Charly Boy could be so induced to sabotage the burial of his father, he should solely take the responsibility for his action.

    Before that day however, the state government had entered into an altercation with Charly Boy over its claim that it had doled out about N20million to the family for the burial. The issue was within the public domain.

    Since after that burial, Charly Boy has granted press interviews in which he made clear his grouse with the government. He told anybody who cared to hear that the family was angered by the manner the state government went public to announce its monetary contributions for the burial. He was also not enthused that the government never made any contact with him before Okorocha went to their family house in Oguta shortly after his father’s death and in his absence. All these are matters of public knowledge.

    If Charly Boy has given these as his reasons for the unruly conduct, simulating imaginary enemies writing a script for him to embarrass the governor strikes as a very cheap proposition. It is also curious why the state government ignored these grouses when it claimed it had no issue with Charly Boy prior to the incident. Yet, all these cannot justify the treatment he gave the governor at that church ceremony.

    That government is also mired in another controversy over its alleged plans to register and issue identity cards to northerners in the state to guarantee free movement. The matter came up in the senate with the upper chamber condemning the plan. It went ahead to call on security agencies not to cooperate with the Imo State government in this nebulous plan.

    The state government did not take kindly to the reprimand, contending that it came after it had refuted the existence of the plan. It asked for apology from the senate and accused political opponents of being the purveyors of the purported registration plan.

    But the senate rebuffed that idea of an apology with some of its members insisting there was sufficient evidence to show that such a policy was in the offing. Amidst this, there was the speculation that the plan to register northerners was at the instance of the northern community as part of their contributions to ensuring their ranks are not infiltrated by dangerous elements in the wake of heightened security concerns in the state.

    If this was so, the state government ought to have owned up to that reality. Had it done so, perhaps, the anger that attended the matter when it came up at the senate would have been considerably staved off. The state government would have saved itself the embarrassment of denying a plan which some of the senators said they had sufficient evidence of its existence. As things now stand, that government has not succeeded in disabusing the minds of the public that there was smoke in the matter without fire. Neither is it being implied that it had no plans to safeguard the state in the wake of the discovery of bombs planted within a church premises; the arrest 486 Boko Haram suspects in Abia State, among them, a wanted kingpin of the terrorist cell.

    There is everything to suggest that the state government, confronted with the new security challenge may have been tinkering with several safety options.  That may have included the idea mooted by the northern community. But as soon as it became a matter of public knowledge, it rushed into denying its very existence. That is where it got it wrong. It would have gone ahead to clarify the genesis of the idea which was yet to be adopted instead of out rightly denying it. It is the manner of denial rather than the idea itself that turned out the greatest undoing of that state government. As a government, it is bound to make mistakes. Not each and every of its policy will tally with public expectations. When the situation calls for it, the government should not run away from robust public debate on some of its policies.

    The Okorocha’s administration must cultivate the habit of standing by and defending its policy decisions instead of this quick resort to easy escape routes or heaping blames on phoney enemies when they run into problem. Not long ago, the same government had signed into law a bill from the state assembly which gave legal backing to aspects of abortion. The church kicked against the law. The next thing the governor did was to coax the House of Assembly to reverse itself as if that piece of legislation emerged from the blues bereft of the rigours that should usually go with it. Such hasty and temperamental reversals speak a lot of the depth of rigour that goes into policy formulation and implementation in that state.

  • Oguta church drama: My action, not political, says Charly Boy

    Oguta church drama: My action, not political, says Charly Boy

    For maverick showbiz persona, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, the drama that took place during his father’s funeral service in Oguta, Imo State, is not regrettable, save for the media reports that exaggerated his affront to Governor Rochas Okorocha, suggesting he snatched the microphone from the governor to prevent him from speaking at the event.

    “I didn’t even let him (Okorocha) have the microphone in the first place, knowing he wouldn’t want to leave in time. The worst thing could have been to pass the microphone to him. The church service could have turned in to another political convention,” said Charly Boy, who claimed the purported snatching of microphone was falsified by reporters to sell their newspapers.

    Incidentally, Oputa’s position on this is in tandem with a press statement issued by the Imo State government, which stated that the deceased son only ‘insisted that his home governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha would not talk as protocol and common sense had demanded.”

    Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, who signed the statement, portrayed Charly Boy as a man who unfortunately “acted out an ill-motivated script drafted by some politicians from the state who are based in Abuja and who have sworn to disturb the peace of their state (Imo), and invariably the peace of the good people and government of the State.”

    According to Onwuemeodo, everything between the governor and Oputa family was right, until during the funeral service when a member of the House of Representatives went to Charly Boy, claiming that “Mr. President directed that Governor Okorocha should not be allowed to talk at the church service.”

    He noted that going by recent incidents, the ovations that usually greeted Okorocha at public functions could have been a threat to some governorship aspirants in the state, who used the name of Mr. President. “It was a clear case of name dropping,” said Onwuemeodo. “They dropped the name of Mr. President as usual for our brother Charly Boy and he fell to that trick.”

    But from Charly Boy’s reaction to the saga, there was probably a policy variance which his state government was oblivious of. “They gave us small money (N25 million) and put it in the newspapers, announcing it to the whole world. Were they the only one that gave us money? All these little things count. After all, Rivers State also gave us money, but did you hear the announcement anywhere?” he said rhetorically.

    According to the former president of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), who decried the state government for not deeming it proper to harmonise the funeral programme, but set up a different show which he and his family were invited to, boasting of a N25 million grant for the funeral of a man of Justice Oputa’s status was unheard of.

    “We spent N7.8 million each day for three days on equipment from Lagos. That alone had consumed the N25 million. And to think that we are talking about justice Oputa of all people,” he said.

    Charly Boy maintained he is a cultured person and did not snatch microphone from the governor. He added that he had the right to his show, which the governor also needed to respect.

    “He didn’t even touch the microphone. I merely told the priest not to hand him the microphone. You know I don’t attend church, because church activities usually take long. Anything wey pass 30 minutes, wetin I dey do there? I know that once he begins to talk, every other person would also want to talk. So, I insisted only one person should speak, which was the person (Senator Anyim Pius-Anyim) representing the president. That is why they are calling me as a supporter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).”

    Charly Boy, who spoke to The Nation on the telephone, said “as soon as Senator Anyim finished speaking, governor Okorocha wanted to move in, and I merely gave the priest a signal to say no! I told him (the priest) that it was enough, and that we needed to go. After all, we were in the village and it was my show. It was not a government’s event. After all, didn’t the state government stage its show earlier, which it used as sycophancy for the governor? So, why must he speak during my show?” he said.

    He said there was no blaming the priest for heeding his directive: “Father Matthew Kukah is my ally. He and my late father worked together, so he understands how I feel about this set of people. So, he passed the message to the governor that the family has said no, and he should respect the wish of the family. That was what went down.”

    If he is not a member of the PDP, which political party does he belong to? “God forbid. I don’t belong to any political party and I will never,” Charly Boy said curtly. His reason: “because the way politics is practiced in Nigeria is obnoxious. I keep my distance. I see it as one big treachery against the masses. The people are suffering, yet the politicians parade their ill-gotten wealth around. At the bottom of Boko Haram insurgency is poverty. Apart from other political-motivated reasons, what would make a young person who has a bright future to choose to be a suicide bomber? My stay in the village, this period, has opened my eyes to the sufferings of the people. You need to know the level of poverty in my place. And I’m sure it is like that everywhere. I don’t belong to any political party.” And like a last kick, he said: “It is like asking the late Oputa which political party he belonged to.”

  • I didn’t snatch microphone from Okorocha, says Charly Boy

    I didn’t snatch microphone from Okorocha, says Charly Boy

    Controversial celebrity, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy has debunked media reports, suggesting he had a showdown with Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, during the funeral church service for the former’s dad, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, last weekend.

    “May I use this medium to clear the air concerning news making the rounds,” Charly Boy said in a press statement being circulated by his media officer, Kazeem Popoola. “There is no ill feeling between me and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. I did not snatch microphone from him, no such thing happened at all.”

    The former president of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), was said to have stopped the governor from speaking at the event, because according to reports, he did not want his late father’s funeral to be used as a political campaign platform. But Charly Boy maintained that, that also did not happen. “I did not, as portrayed by these news reports; I believe I am a very cultured individual, not one to rubbish a good gesture,” he said, while thanking everyone who attended the event.

    “This is to register my utmost pleasure and appreciation to all Nigerians for the remarkable show of love to me and my family in giving my father, Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, a most befitting burial. I am very happy and indeed, very grateful to all. My special gratitude goes to the Federal Government and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Imo State Government and Governor Rochas Okorocha, Rivers State Government and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, for their immeasurable support and participation,” he said.

  • Charly Boy Show goes to church

    Of course, there are times when life imitates art, contrary to the thinking that it is only art that imitates life; and it was perhaps fitting that an entertainer provided entertainment by behaviour closer to art than life. Whatever Mr. Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, intended to achieve by dramatically snatching the microphone from Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha at the funeral service for his father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, all he succeeded in doing was to score cheap publicity points. The setting was the Sacred Heart Church, Oguta, Imo State.

    Funnily enough, Charly Boy reportedly accused the governor of wanting to score “cheap political points” at the event. It is not clear what he meant by his allegation, particularly given the remarks by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, which provided illumination. Onwuemeodo said: “The Imo State governor had worked together with Charly Boy both when the late Justice was ill, until the time he died and the preparation for the burial which also encouraged the governor to make substantial financial input and also organised a special day of tribute at the expense of the state government with Charly Boy also present with other members of the family.”

    He continued: “This is why the sudden change of character of Charly Boy at the church service, in which case, he insisted that the governor would not talk as protocol demanded could not be understood, except that he was acting the script handed over to him by some of the governorship aspirants from the state who might have been rattled by the thunderous ovation that greeted the governor by the crowd when he was first introduced.”

    It was no surprise that following Charly Boy’s breach of reasonable and responsible conduct, a rattled Okorocha had to leave the venue and several other guests reportedly left the church in anticipation of further trouble, which thankfully did not happen.  Providing background to the ugly development, reports said a day earlier, Charly Boy walked out of the venue of a tribute session for his late father organised in Owerri by the state government, based on the same allegation of politicisation.

    For the avoidance of doubt, it ought to be said and stressed that the late Justice Oputa, alias Socrates, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, recognised for his role as the chairman of the Federal Government’s Human Rights Investigations Commission set up by the Obasanjo presidency, popularly called the Oputa panel, was a respected public figure deserving of state attention in death, regardless of the colouration of the government in power.

    This important consideration should have guided Charly Boy, whatever his misgivings about Okorocha’s administration. The ceremonies were intended to honour his father, which was the ultimate; and it was insignificant whether the governor allegedly chose to bask in his father’s reflected glory and gain political mileage from his burial. Furthermore, he should have been civil enough to give the office of the governor the right and proper respect.

    By his misconduct, he ironically succeeded in turning his father’s funeral into nothing less than a silly show, despite his reported initial remark that burying the man should not be seen as a Charly Boy Show, referring to his hot TV show where anything could happen.

  • I didn’t snatch microphone from Okorocha, says Charly Boy

    I didn’t snatch microphone from Okorocha, says Charly Boy

    Controversial celebrity, Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy has debunked media reports, suggesting he had a showdown with Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, during the funeral church service for the former’s dad, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, last weekend.

    “May I use this medium to clear the air concerning news making the rounds,” Charly Boy said in a press statement being circulated by his media officer, Kazeem Popoola. “There is no ill feeling between me and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. I did not snatch microphone from him, no such thing happened at all.”

    The former president of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), was said to have stopped the governor from speaking at the event, because according to reports, he did not want his late father’s funeral to be used as a political campaign platform. But Charly Boy maintained that, that also did not happen. “I did not, as portrayed by these news reports; I believe I am a very cultured individual, not one to rubbish a good gesture,” he said, while thanking everyone who attended the event.

    “This is to register my utmost pleasure and appreciation to all Nigerians for the remarkable show of love to me and my family in giving my father, Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, a most befitting burial. I am very happy and indeed, very grateful to all. My special gratitude goes to the Federal Government and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Imo State Government and Governor Rochas Okorocha, Rivers State Government and Governor Rotimi Amaechi, for their immeasurable support and participation,” he said.

     

  • Black Matchew CONDOLES WITH Charly Boy

    Black Matchew CONDOLES WITH Charly Boy

    A United Kingdom-based Nigerian act, Black Matchew, has expressed his condolence to the Oputa family, following the death of Justice Ofudiwe Oputa.

    In a message from his Manchester School of Arts, the 22-year-old prayed God to grant maverick entertainer, Charly Boy, alias Area Fada, the fortitude to hold on at this point in his life.

    According to the budding artiste, it is even now that Charly Boy, his immediate and extended family need God to be their father, grandfather and everything, adding that they had lost a major pillar in their family.

    “My father used to tell me about the man’s firmness when it comes to dispensing justice. I hear he even dealt with a former president for contempt of court. I was impressed when I was told there used to be a Nigerian who was not afraid to do what was right. That only tells me that there are still some men and women in this country who can do the right things at the right time. My heart really goes out to the family,” he said.

    Matchew was in Nigeria recently to premiere his movie and distributed copies of his maiden promotional singles that comprised tracks, including Iyami and Baby I Miss You Much, among others.

    Justice Oputa passed on last Sunday, two months after he suffered a stroke.

  • Charly Boy plans concert for father

    Charly Boy plans concert for father

    Maverick entertainer Charly Boy (real name Charles Oputa) said yesterday prominent musicians, D’banj and Terry G, will perform at a concert to cdelebrate the death of his father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.

    Justice Oputa, a former Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC), died on Sunday afternoon at the National Hospital in Abuja.

    He was 90.

    Charly Boy, who spoke yesterday with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at his Abuja  home, said his father lived a fulfilled life “so, there is a great need to celebrate him”.

    He urged Nigerians not to sympathise with him.

    Charly Boy said: “They should join in celebrating a life well lived. My father was a good and great man, though we did not start off well because in the beginning he always felt I was too rascal.

    “I did not obey orders and I got tired of his rules, regulations and restrictions. So, it was important that I went my own way.

    “I thank God I did that because at long last since the past 25 years, I won the kind of respect I deserved from the man who thought that the direction I took was a wrong move.

    “For the past 25 years, we bonded and I am proud to have had a father like him.”

    The entertainer said his father brought him up on a strong “overdose” of morals, values, principles and how to be contented and be at peace with oneself.

    “I will continue to apply these virtues to my life,” Charly Boy said.

    Mr Mike Okiro, a retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP), was among the early sympathisers at the Oputas’ home.

    The former police chief described the late justice as a rare nugget.

    Okiro said Justice Oputa’s death was a big loss to the family, the Judiciary and the country.

    He said the late Justice was a legend, especially in the Judiciary, because he was recognised internationally and would be missed greatly.

    “He was a great man, and he lived a very good life worthy of emulation,” Okiro said.

    A musician, Daniel Wilson, who also condoled with the family, described the late Justice Oputa as a rare gem with a great life.

    He said his memory would live on.