Why I Admire Charly Boy Despite His Jagajaga Dressing – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has explained why he admires Charly Boy despite initially being put off by his unconventional style of dressing. He recently had his say during an interview on the “Before Tomorrow Comes” podcast, and Nigerians have been reacting.

Reflecting on his long-standing acquaintance with Charly Boy’s family, OBJ revealed that his perception of the former singer changed over time because of his close relationship with his late father, Justice Oputa.

Obasanjo added that he eventually discovered that there was more to Charly Boy than his weird lifestyle as an entertainer.

His words, “I was close to Charlie Boy’s father, Justice Oputa. I don’t have many friends or many people that I would say I admire, but late Justice Oputa was one Nigerian I could call a friend and one Nigerian I admired.

Then I started seeing Charlie Boy, and they say Charlie Boy is the son of Justice Oputa.

Justice Oputa is decent, well-groomed, well-dressed, immaculate, and proud. And then I saw this man called Charlie Boy, Oputa’s son.

He was dressed jaga jaga. I said, Look, how can an adult dress like this? So I didn’t think much of Charlie Boy.

On one occasion, I wanted to pay him a visit. And where did I find him? I found him in Charlie Boy’s house.

Of course, going into Charlie Boy’s house, you see him jaga jaga, living in his own house, on motorcycle, dressed like in war. But what struck me was Charlie Boy’s way of taking care of his father.

If Charlie Boy had been ten times immaculately dressed, he would not have taken care of his father better than I saw him taking care of him.

So, I got drawn to Charlie Boy. And then I realised that Charlie Boy’s jaga jaga tricks, his mediated acts of being a comedian and making money out of the way he dressed, his manner of behaviour, it’s all part of comedy, amusement. So, I got drawn to Charlie Boy.

I became close to Charlie Boy. So his jaga jaga dressing didn’t matter to me anymore. I saw it as part of making life.

And then Charlie Boy approached me. And I realised that there are a lot of lessons to learn from Charlie Boy’s life, particularly from his parents, and particularly his father.

How did his father tolerate him when he wasn’t going the way the father wanted him to go? If he would not be a lawyer, but definitely be a singer or a comedian, it would not what the father would want. But he decided to choose a path for his life. He maintained it.

And he got his father to learn to live with it. And as I said, to the extent that the later part of the father’s life, Charlie Boy became a favourite of his father. I know that.

If you say the Yorubas are bad because of probably what one Yoruba man had done, or the Fulanis are bad because of what one Fulani man had done, then who’s good.”

WOW.