Charles
Oputa, better known as Charly Boy, aka His Royal Punkness, aka Area Fada, has
been in the news lately. And for the right reasons too. Without a doubt, this
enigmatic gentleman represents different things to different people.
To many,
he is perhaps one of the most consummate artistes to come out of this part of the
world. His artistry, his stage presence and the depth of his craft remain his
biggest strength as an artiste. To some others, Charly Boy would probably
remain one of the most creatively gifted individuals they have ever known. He
has also been variously described as one of the most incredibly brilliant minds
the creative industry has ever produced. His ability to transit seamlessly from
an accomplished artiste to a celebrated television presenter/personality and
then to a social commentator and human rights activist, leading the line of
protests with the likes of the late Gani Fawehinmi, has been nothing short of
impressive. This is why till date, he has remained the authentic voice of the
downtrodden.
The big news is that Charly Boy, the convener of the popular #OurMumuDonDo Movement
turned 70 on June 19, 2020. His family, colleagues in the industry, friends,
prominent Nigerians and showbiz stars, celebrated him one way or another, even
as the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible for a grand event to be organised
in his honour. The Area Fada got tons of messages on various social media
platforms. A number of week-long programmes were rolled out to celebrate the
music icon and it all climaxed with the release of a musical collaboration with
Oritse Femi titled Our Mumu Don Do. And from what we hear, the song is enjoying
massive airplay on many radio stations across the country.
Many
have found it hard to believe that His Royal Punkness is that far gone in age
because he doesn’t look anything like a 70 years old man. He looks more like a
man twenty years younger than his actual age. He is still very strong, looks
refreshingly young, enjoys sound health and remains active as an activist. Yet,
this amazing father of nine resourceful and successful children is a grandpa
sixteen times over!
Last
week, WALE LAWAL, had a 70th birthday
interview with Charly Boy and he was in a really lively mood. He shared with us
his some of the things he had never shared openly before and also spoke
candidly about his 42-year-old marriage to his beautiful wife, Lady Diane.
You
turned 70 a couple of weeks ago, how do you feel reaching this milestone and
how have you been able to maintain your youthful look?
I
feel great. It’s a really good feeling. It’s something that I was looking
forward to and I’m glad it’s here. 70 has never looked this good on anybody I
guess. People’s perception of a 70-year-old man is that of a bent looking man.
For me, like they say, age is nothing but a number, I feel more like I’m 40 or
45. But, I’ve never felt so much love and affection from the people. I got tons
of unbelievable messages from people. At least, I’m glad people are celebrating
me while I’m alive and not the other way round. Not that when I die now, they
will now start to use my head dey do business (laughs). It’s a good thing, sha.
How
about the outpour of good wishes and love showed you by people, how overwhelmed were you? Were you expecting anything like that?
I
felt flabbergasted and overwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting that. I don’t know if it
was the fact that I’d just turned 70 and people were shocked I was actually 70,
or because they actually felt this guy has been around for a long while and
he’s been consistent, tenacious and dogged in his fight. I know lots of people
were thinking I just started this whole struggle some four or five years ago
because of #Mumudondo but I’ve been on this for over four decades. So, the fact
that a lot of people remembered, I thought it was a good thing. That means
people do take notice.
I’m
wondering did you ever think you could live up to 70 years, considering that
back then you sometimes went head to head with the authorities and put yourself
in harm’s way?
I
never had those kinds of negative mindsets. You can’t get into the kitchen and
not expect some heat every now and then. It’s not something you sit and ponder
over because you’re filled with the passion of what you’re doing that moment.
And because it comes from the soul, except the harm is staring at you in the
face, truth is you’re always preoccupied thinking about what you need to do to
make things better.
Let
me take you back to those days when the Charly Boy brand was everywhere. For
me, I think one of your biggest strength is your stage performance, they are a
beauty to watch. Who were those artistes that influenced your craft at the
time, artistes that you looked up to?
Well,
I’ve been influenced by so many things. Anything, no matter how little, can
influence me. Anything I see that I like, even if its 5 per cent likeness, that
becomes an influence. And you never really know when it shows up, that is why I
say to musicians, you can never sing anything nobody has tried before. You’re
not gonna play something nobody has played before because we’re all
receptive to influences, depending on how that individual is taking it. But the
only artiste that I can even care to mention that stands out should be Fela
because of the message, not the stagecraft. And again, the fact that he had a
symphony, like an orchestra on stage. But that’s not something in this time
that I will like to try, like have that many people on stage? No. So, from Fela
to everyone I’ve been privileged to work with, I take from them every little
thing that catches my fancy.
How
was it like for you then, dealing with the fame and especially the women back
then?
Yeah,
you know, these things happen when you get to a point where you’re on top of
your game. But after a while, you start to slow down and think. Yeah, I made a
few mistakes. But no sooner than I made those mistakes, I began to talk to
myself and I reasoned with myself. Then, I fell back into line. I didn’t need
anyone to tell me anything. But initially, yes, it was women, women, women!
Then after a while, it became a drag. It was no longer important to me. It was
no longer as important as the business and the art. After a while, it lost its
value completely and I focused more on the business. Everything in life comes
at a phase. It’s up to you to realize that whatever phase you’re in, you must
not overdo things. Don’t fall off the track, always keep your eyes on the ball,
that way, you can’t be distracted.
How
did you transit from playing music to being an activist?
There
was no transition, it’s the same shit I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember.
I hate the word social activism or social activist. It’s been bastardized in
Nigeria. It’s become the word to describe people who are transactional in their
dealings. They are transactional kind of people. I prefer the word a social
engineer and that is what I’ve been doing for the past 40 years, paving the
way, shinning the light. The fact that the government has been on the receiving
end more at the later part does not mean that’s when I started. That is what
I’ve been doing. My fight for the Okada guys, my fight for even military
pensioners that were not paid their money, my fight for market women, my fight
for Nigerian musicians, my fight for people who are not getting justice, my
fight for the voiceless, I didn’t just start all of these. All because we now
have this man called Buhari and things have never been this bad, that does not
mean that’s when I started. So, I’ve been involved in social engineering, if
you want to call it that, for a long time. It’s the same fight that led me to
Alaba to fight piracy, to fight corporate Nigeria and how they were
disrespecting our artistes. So, there’s been no transition, it’s been the same
fight for people to do the right thing.
Despite
all the bleak-looking situation in Nigeria, do you think there could be some
ray of light at the end of the tunnel?
That
question is like asking me if I know whether I’ll be alive tomorrow. Yes, I
believe that there’s hope, but when that hope will materialize is when I can’t
say. One should be always hopeful. But manner is not going to fall from heaven.
Those days are over. These days, you have to go out there and fight to get it
because if you don’t, you might as well roll over and let all of us physically
perish, with our ignorance. But one day, there’ll be a tipping point, and
that’s the point where young people and generally the people of Nigeria as a
whole would start to consider the option of dying as against the option of
living. This is because by then, we’ll be united by poverty, by our frustrations
and by our stupidity and idiotism. Everywhere you look there’s injustice.
There’s injustice in the north, there’s injustice in the east, there’s
injustice everywhere. But at the end of the day when I look at it, we are
guilty. We are guilty of docility, we are all guilty of our inactions, e no
concern us attitude, my thief is a better thief than your thief. Yes, there is
hope, but things will need to get worse, horrible, first, then so we can get to
that point where the option of dying will be more attractive than the option of
living, that is when we will all rise up to do the needful, that is when we
might be able to say there is hope.
For
over 40 years, the Charly Boy brand has remained as constant as the northern
star while many of your contemporaries have bowed out of the business, how have
you been able to do this?
I’m
on steroids (laughs). See, I see myself as a student. I’m like a student for
life. I like to learn. I can never go out of fashion. I have a lot of people to
learn from. That’s how I have maintained longevity and freshness to my art. I
tell people I’m always on a diet and being on a diet is not always about what
one eats, it’s also about what I look at, the discussions I care to engage in,
the kind of people who hang around me, the kind of people I can stand or cannot
stand around me. All of that is on the menu of my diet. And as long as there
are ideas walking on the streets and flying all over the place, receiving those
ideas won’t be any problem for me, since I’m always looking for that new angle,
always looking for that freshness. I am ready to learn, even if it’s from a two-year-old baby. I’m ready to submit myself and learn if I’m sure that you have
something that I don’t have. And by the way, I don’t even believe that I know anything
because if I compare what I know to what I don’t know, the things I don’t know
are in the majority. As far am concerned, I don’t know anything. You know, if
you carry yourself with a certain humility people will have fun teaching you
stuff. Even sometimes, they may be teaching you but they don’t know they are
teaching you stuff because they feel that you already know these things and
they are only feeling privileged to be around you. So, because of your
humility, you’re learning.
You
have been with your wife, Lady Diane, for over 42 years, how have you kept your
42 years old marriage together?
Let
me be cocky to say that I know many will think Charly Boy is just being
tolerated, that no one woman can love him that much. That is not true. Yes, my
wife loves me so much but it’s not because she’s tolerated me, it’s because she
married the world’s best. I take my vows seriously. And when I commit, I
commit. I saw my parents together for over 60 years, even when they would
argue, after their little bickering, I will see them stealing kisses and
holding hands. And I thought that was a good picture. Even though I’d been
previously married three or four times I’ve even lost count, I was marrying and
running away because I was immature. I wasn’t ready for marriage in those days.
But my desire has always been to have a marriage that looks like what my
parents had. So, when I finally decided to….(Pauses then continues) Actually,
she proposed to me. She woke up one day and said to me, you either marry me or
I go back where I came from. So, I took one look at her and said, okay, yeah,
let’s do this. But we’ve been able to last this long because we have mutual
respect for each other. People think that marriage is only about being
compatible, that Lady D is equally crazy like Charly Boy, no, not like that.
Marriage is not about how compatible you are with your spouse, it’s about how
you deal with your incompatibilities. This means that you have to be a good
manager because longevity in marriage is about management. When the sweet and
honey don finish and see finish don enter, it’s the friendship, the mutual
respect that will carry you forward. When people tell me, oh, you must love
your wife, I say, well, yeah, but I don’t think I love her that gaga o. I don’t
know what love is, but if love means commitment, and seeing it through to the
end, then, yes, I’m in love with her. Because that’s all I know - commitment.
I’m committed, I’ve been loyal to my vows, I ain’t going nowhere. She’s not
going nowhere. We’ve both decided to die here!
How
about the qualities that you admire the most about her?
She
has a sweet soul. She’s like a little girl. I’m attracted to souls,
not….(pauses for a moment) Okay, well, maybe in the beginning when I was much,
much younger when I was attracted to physical beauty. But now, I’m more
spiritual. Now, I’m more attracted to beautiful souls. I can tell the soul of a
person. If you give me five minutes with somebody and I just talk to them a
little bit, I can smell their souls.
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