Charlyboy is not my Son- Justice Oputa

In this interview with the Nigeria's foremost legal luminary, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, a careful  explanation has been given on why Charlyboy is not his son.  This is among other national issues the justice had raised in this interview. The excerpt  

You have been quite for a while now, we used to know you as the Socrates of the Nigerian Bar Sir, what have you been doing?

Resting.  That is what retirement is all about, resting after having an active life and trying to get ideas from writing books. Since I retired, I have written two or three books. As you can see, I have them on my desk here and many others in my Library. You need to read them. They are good.

These days, you shuttle between Abuja and Oguta, what is good in your village?

Have you been to Oguta? If you have been to Oguta you will not call it a village.  Well, it does not matter what you call it,  Oguta is Oguta. That’s where I am born and you cannot run away from your birth place.  I grew up there and went to school there before I went to college in Oguta, CKC to Yaba higher college to Achimota, from where I proceeded to Britain.

How old is the Justice now?

Well I am almost 92. I was born in 1920. Don’t I look it? Most of us were born but our birth was not recorded but all I know is that I started school in 1931. Then you cannot be admitted into school until you are eight years or so, your hand must touch your ear on the other side over your head, otherwise you have not grown enough to go to school. 

 

If you were to change anything in your life, what would it have been?

Well... Life is activity as I said before, and every day you want your tomorrow to be better than today. Nigeria has changed a lot but we still need some changes in many areas of our lives. Take the school for example; the schools need to be more purposeful so that the same people who can stand on their feet, otherwise looking for government job can be self employed. People should learn to be self sufficient, depend on themselves and that will be facilitated by the type of training you had. If from the early years you are trained to be on your own, stand on your own two feet,  and you don’t rely on mummy or daddy for everything, then you have a good thing, that is why I like Charles’ son Charles Junior. He is on his own.  Sometimes he doesn’t agree with me or his father. He goes on and you will think he is crazy. But later you will see his initiative. So you don’t carry it too far.

You have been faithful to one woman all through your life, what has been the magic.

Well, first of all I am a catholic and our religion does not allow promiscuity and I think every religion does not allow that. It may or may not be easy; no two human beings are the same.  If you want to live with somebody who is like you, you will find out that there is nobody like you. You are yourself he or she is himself or herself. That makes it necessary for the word ‘accommodate’. If you don’t accommodate one another, you can’t live together. There may be many things your wife does that you don’t like or many things you do that she doesn’t like.  If you are honest with yourself, you will admit that these are mere weaknesses, so when you go relapse into those weaknesses, it is your duty to pull her out, when it is your turn, she pulls you out.  You must let her know that the road she is taking will lead her to destruction, especially when there are kids around. The attention of the father and mother will be concentrated on bringing up those kids in the fear of God. My name is chukwudifu, which means there is God supervising what is happening, nothing happens by chance, to you it is an accident, and to him it is pre designed. So we should learn to love and to forgive, remember the story of the prodigal son.

 

There have been different crisis looming in the Judiciary lately even with the amount of money being pumped into the Judicial body, how would you compare the present Judicial system and that of the old?

Every age has its own headache, its own problems.  Corruption is not a Nigerian word, it is an English word, they have it there too, it is all over the place, it is in America, in England in Africa, in Asia, each group has a word for corruption, you can’t have a word for what does not exist. What is corruption? If you do a piece of job and you are paid money for doing it and you are asked to do it because, you are qualified to do it, is not corruption, but if you are not qualified and want to do it you are corrupt, if you look at the meaning of corrupt- to make nonsense of what used to make sense. You corrupt by paying for what you should have got without paying; the only thing you had to pay then was your qualification. You don’t have the qualification so you give money to somebody who pretends that you have or sometimes you go and hire someone to go and take the exams for you. Having taken the exam for you, will he do the work for you? So corruption is a terrible thing is a fact of life and every society has been fighting against corruption in one form or the other. It is not only by giving money, there are many ways of corrupting the system. So corruption is a very dangerous thing, every government every institution, every church will pitch a battle against that social-ill called corruption. Once corruption sets in, you can never distinguish between who is right and who is wrong.  Now, coming to the judiciary the law is judge not so you cannot be judged. If you are a judge and you are corrupt where do we go from here? Then everything has come to a halt. If the legislature is corrupt, you go to the judiciary for redress, if the executive is corrupt you go to the judiciary for remedy, if the judiciary itself is corrupt where do you go from there. That is a question where do you go? To God whom you don’t see? To history which is past? To the future that hasn’t come? Today is here, so let us use it. 

You headed the human rights Commission set up by the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yet up till today the recommendations made from the panel are yet to be implemented, have you at any point asked questions why?

The human rights commission was like an exercise to bare ourselves out and see how deficient and  naked we are, to more or less appeal from the inside, to your soul. Why are we human? Have we got rights? Where do we get these rights from? All these are very fundamental questions, we were all created, if you are a Christian, from the image and likeness of God. Well, my name is chukwudefu, there is a God if there is a God who crested us, he must have created us for a purpose. What is that purpose? Each man has to find out why he was created, has to find out how do I achieve? At the end of that creation, how do I make a positive impact on my age, on my nation, on my family, if you do that you are living a footprint for those coming behind to follow. When you travel in the desert everybody coming behind you will see where you have gone, through what you have gone to reach where you are. The commission was set up to enable us evaluate our naked past and to create a purposeful future. I think it worked for us.

With the insurgence of Boko Haram in the country, the fuel subsidy scam and the indictment of some politicians, how would you rate the present government?

What is Boko Haram to start with, what is it? we have to know what it is and what they are fighting for before we can say, they are fighting for a just cause or they are fighting unjustly. What is Boko Haram and what is their complaint, is their complaint genuine? Or are they all trouble makers. You see, when something happens you need to be cool, quiet, go to the root, having gone to the root then you will know and say my brother come, you want to reach here? Yes, this road you are going will not reach here, take this road, it is better than this road. But just in the air, without analysis, you can not condemn or praise. We have to see what their complaint is. Are they justified? If the complaint has any substance, how can the government mitigate their fear that this is going to end this way? Then you have a dialogue. When we act in unison we will achieve the peace we search, but when we are fighting separately, it is not coordinated. Well, when a movement starts, you may have radicals who will hijack this movement, it is good to get the level headed leaders separated from the radicals and then you and these level headed leaders will now fight against or convince the radicals. Every movement has within its rank those who want to make some capital out of what exists. Society is an ongoing thing; a stake may be this way because of this or that.  Have asked to know what the head ache is? Is it related to the negligence of the people at the grassroots? If the headache is money, then try and see if you can fund the local government. But if the headache is money but it is squandered, try and check the leadership, make sure you put the correct people in the correct positions. If a man is corrupt whether he is president or vice president or anybody, he is corrupt.. Expose him, don’t let the small fries suffer when the big ones are enjoying their corrupt wealth in America. If a president is corrupt charge him to court put him in jail and that will ring a bell that whether you are president or laborer, you are under the same law. However, if you have one law for the rich, one law for the mighty and one law for the low it will not work.

When Nigeria degenerate into religious war then the future is bleak, there is nothing capable of dividing a people like religion, it can unite and it will do nobody any good. The history of the world is full of wars of religion. When you look at these wars, what caused them and how they were ended, you can never justify the amount of blood lost because after each war, no war has ended or settled on the battlefield. After killing ourselves, we come to the conference table.  This goes to tell us that our agitation must not always be coloured in religion. War is bad. Whatever the Boko Haram group wants can be taken care of if you employ the best possible strategies towards reconciliation.

Were you at any point against Charles’ Choice of Career?

Every father wants a son to succeed him. I practiced as a lawyer; I had and still have a very big library at home. You will want somebody to take over from you. When we couldn’t get him to do law, we let him do what he wanted to do if that was goin to make him happy. Today, he is happy, and we are all happy with him... Take husband and wife for instance, they are two different human beings, and they can’t live together until they are willing to accommodate one another. They may be certain things I do that my wife doesn’t like, they may be certain things she does, I don’t like, so also your child. At first, we were only concerned about what we wanted him to become, but not really concerned about what he wanted to become. I think every parent should look at both angles.

What do you think about your son Charlyboy today?

Point of correction, Charlyboy is not my Son. I think Charlyboy is a character. I don't have any child as Charlyboy, I have Charles Oputa.  I don't allow Charlyboy into my house, but I have a caring son called Charles. Maybe, you will need to rephrase your question again

What do you think of Charles today, what kind of child is he?

He has his own will, he has been doing what he likes, he has been happy with what he is doing and that is the aim of life. If you are satisfied, contented with the day to day existence, then you are considered a happy man. You may be very rich and happy but not satisfied, but if you are in an atmosphere you like and you have a wife who agrees with you like Charles, then you are lucky. My son is very understanding, loving and shows so much concern and respect for me and her mother. That’s all we need from him at this age.

He has lofty visions seemingly impossible to actualize. He pursues those visions with a single-minded doggedness, exhibiting an amazing capacity to build a team and drive them relentlessly toward the realization of his dreams. His advice to the youths to never let anybody kill their dreams is his personal mantra which rules him. I salute that.

How did you feel attending a different church with Charles and his wife?

It depends on what you call church.  There is only one God and everybody is trying to reach out to that God. Religion is just a way to him; there may be different religions but just one God, the same God. There was a time people were fighting over religion, saying this is the proper religion and the other is not. But on the last day, we will be judged by an impartial judge and usually the question is, “when I was hungry you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, you gave me to drink, I was naked and you clothed me and I was homeless, you took me to my home. Now come into the home of my father” That is the verdict, he did not say I was a roman catholic, I was a protestant, I was a Presbyterian, I was a Muslim. No!, I was hungry and you gave me to eat. And look at the story of the Good Samaritan, the person that helped was the enemy, a Samaritan that stopped.    In other words, we are quarreling whether you are protestant or a roman catholic. This is stupidity, what is necessary is to be a Good Samaritan. So, when Charles told me we were going to church, I did not hesitate because I knew he was taking me to a good church, and frankly, I really did enjoy myself. Being the Good Samaritan that my son is, I had to go and share in his love for the youth. At last, we were all very happy, both myself and the mother.

What is it that you respect about your son?

He has his own will and if you try to bend him and discover that it is not easy, then all you need to check is to see whether what he wants is for good or not. If you do, you will see the sense in it, and then you will probably join him. Most importantly, I respect him for who he is today. Having told me that he was going to get me to like his own kind of profession, and he did it, is what everybody must emulate.

Will you say he has accomplished more than you have? 

Life is an ongoing struggle and you don’t judge until the end of the struggle, obituary usually portrays what we have been while we were alive and then says whether you have succeeded or not. Normally, you don’t have an obituary of the living, so it is at the end of the journey that you can assess what and what have being his contribution, input. We are all expected to contribute something to life. If you have contributed nothing to life then it is too bad. Charles has tried, but you can only assess our achievement when you read our obituaries.

Do you think he is living before his time?

Every revolutionist lives before his time; otherwise you are not a revolutionist. If you want a change from what used to be to what you think will be, you are a revolutionist.  Life is not stationary.  Life is moving and if you don’t move with time, time won’t wait for you; it will move on and leave you behind. So in this dynamics of change, our part is to see if we can interpreted the course of events, see if we can tread safely on this or that or that part to see if we can reach the goal which we all want to achieve. He is a revolutionist, hence he sees past now. He is ahead of many of us. I think I know where he is going.

What was he like as a child? 

Well as a child he had his own will, as I said every father wants a son to be like him, but he did not want to be anybody, he wanted to be himself, and he showed that early in life. You choose a school for him; he will go to the school he wanted to go to and not the one you wanted him to go to. You choose a career for him but no, he wanted what he wanted for himself, otherwise a son of a lawyer now a musician is not something to easily comprehend, but that is what he wanted because of his will power. Truly, he is living up to it.

What are the similarities between you both?

Well, every child takes part of the father and part of the mother. It is difficult to see a child who is just himself, what he does will be part and part of what he learnt from his father or what he inherited from the father. Blood is very precious; you can’t beat blood once you have the same blood running in people. Part of me is in him, that may or may not be the dominating part, what people see is the dominating part, they see him as a musician but he is playing a role like a character in a field, when he comes home he is different. It is no longer the Charly boy you used to see, he becomes Charles Oputa not Charly boy. So we are all playing roles on the world stage, Shakespeare said, “the entire world is a stage and all the men and women are players, we are all playing a role.  All we ask is that you play an honorable role so that when you exit, when you have ended playing your role, you will be remembered. Charles is so hard working, and that was a big concern for me until I recalled what I used to do in my younger days and even until I retired from active professional life and service. Hard work and tremendous focus are certainly our common traits. He is also just like me; a man with a strong attachment to his family. He just does not joke with that. I am also very proud to note that like me, he has zero tolerance for injustice of any kind. That is again related to a deep compassion for the less privileged and down trodden.

Why do you live with him?

I live with him because I relax better with him. I rest better here. I think my house is his house, and his house, mine.    

At this age, you are still very strong. You stood in church even when some people got tired and sat down, we saw you dancing and singing happily, what is the secret of your strength?

That’s as a result of my early training. We had a very- very drastic training as youths. when we were at Achimota college, we used to run every morning, a mile, then you finish and go to the gym, you wake up at six, do your morning run, you run one mile, gym and then go to school. Some of us continued after school and it has paid off. At about 90, I can stand up for an hour. When I am delivering lectures, I don’t sit down. You stand to a point that you don’t know you are standing; you are more involved in the thing you are doing that you forget you are standing. That’s the will power; the will is stronger than the body, if you have a strong will, it will carry the body along. If you want the body to lead, it is up to you.

Would you now say you have lived a fulfilled life?

As I said earlier, Obituary comes usually when you die. It is then that they will assess what you have done. It is not for me to write a recommendation about myself, it is for you people journalists to say whether ‘A’ has lived a full life or not. I may think I have, but I have not, so it is for others to judge not for you. Satisfaction is not a word that belongs to us here, it is up there. If you reach the end of the journey, then the word satisfaction applies, but down here, we still want to do this and that. Man is a very queer animal, you want’ A’ I give you, you don’t want “A” gain, when you get ‘B’ you want “C” and it continues in that order.

The Oputa Panel no doubt contributed towards strengthening our democracy, have you been recognized by the government for your effort so far, are you still playing some advisory roles?

I have the CFR award, that is the highest award so far, and that is enough recognition. However, when a judge dances with the government in almost everything, he is not a good judge then.  You need to wait for the government to seek for your advice. If they do, you can freely offer it, especially when you are retired. You don’t go lobbying, they come to you.

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Gbenga Adenuga's" Music Saved" me empowers youth in Abuja

The first edition of the Music Saved me concert, organized by Gbenga Adenuga was a huge success as different people from the federal capital territory, Ibadan and Lagos converged at the hall 3 of the Silverbird cinema to witness what the first edition had in stock for them.

The event which started at about 6:00pm in the evening of Sunday did not dash the expectation of Gbenga Adenuga's fans who waited patiently for the gospel artiste to storm the stage.

The show gradually rose to the crescendo through a dynamic comedy piece from Dr. Ayuba, the Master of Ceremony who left the audience to crack their ribs throughout the exposition of the show.

Like Gbenga had promised during the pre-event press release, the event was quite interactive as the audience was engaged in different competitions. One of the highlights of the show was the Musical chairs competition which ended in the most dramatic way, and the winner smiled home having her mobile phone recharged up to a whooping N5000!

The walls of the hall almost collapsed when the gospel artiste stormed the stage while opening the event with the National Anthem. Thereafter, the rising action began. Different songs were reeled out from Gbenga's musical archives, however the audience went wild when he sang one of the soul inspiring songs titled 'e be like say praise dey worry me'. From that point, it became a show for all, as no single person was still seen sitting down.

The climax of the show was the award segment where creativity and professionalism was encouraged. Five categories of awards were given out to different outstanding young men and women who are doing creatively well in fashion and tailoring, media publicity, photography, Innovation and invention, as well as music productions.

After the final collation and short listing of the 13,000 nominations, critical verifications ensued, the organizers got the following last nominees and winners of the awards;

CATEGORY A - Tailoring & Fashion Category. Three finalists emerged, they are

HOMTO DOKPESI OYENUSI, The CEO / CREATIVE DIRECTOR of DUCHESS H COUTURE who received the MusicSavedMe top quality award

Other two finalists in the tailoring category are

1.            CECILIA MAY AGU, the CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF SARC DESIGNS and

2.            IRENE OCHI the CHIEF CONSULTANT CLOTHIER of RENBOSS CLOTHING LINE  

CATEGORY B - Music producer category

SAMUEL AJIBOLA the DIRECTOR of DON SAM MUSIQ received the MusicSavedMe Top Quality Award while the 

Other 2 finalists are  

1. AKANIMO SUNDAY SAMUEL, HEAD, IN HOUSE PRODUCER of PRO OKASSY Music production outfit and

2. PAUL ANGOR, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER of MUSIC BUNKER FCT   

CATEGORY C - INNOVATIONS AND INVENTIONS category only one finalist emerged and he went home with the MusciSavedMe Top Quality award for the Category, He is

FEMI ALADE, FOUNDER/CEOD of PLIRISMOBILE NIGERIA LTD  

 

CATEGORY D - Photography category. Three finalists emerged

TOPE BROWN CREATIVE DIRECTOR/CEO OF TBS ENTERTAINMENT won the MusicSavedMe Top Quality Award

The other two finalists are

1. JONES ODAGWE CEO OF JONES GRAPHE  

2. PAUL IFENDU UKONU, the CREATIVE DIRECTORE of PAUL UKONU PHOTOGRAPHY    

CATEGORY E - The NEW MEDIA PUBLICIST category, two finalists emerged

 NNODIN ROSEBLOSSOM, FOUNDER of BL COMPERE LTD received the MusicsavedMe Top Quality Award

The only other finalist in this category is

Omowunmi Johnson the CEO WTW (WALK THRU WALLS MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT)   

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Pastor Gbenga Adenuga empowers Nigerian Youth in a concert

Foremost Nigerian yuppie pastor, Gbenga Adenuga has decided to give back to the streets through a concert he has organized with his team to hold on Sunday.  The pastor of the ThisRanch church has decided to use the first edition of the concert series “Music Saved  me” to reward hardworking and creative Nigerian youths who have been nominated from different  fields of endeavours to be rewarded for hard work and creativity come this Sunday at the Silverbird Cinema, Abuja.

Pastor Gbenga Adenuga

The event which promises to be interactive will see both the young and old getting involved in the concert through the ingenuity of the event concept developers and organizers.

According to Gbenga, “there will be no dull moment as the event will be more interactive than to just come and watch me and others perform. We have devised different ways to break the third wall of the stage and make it like a Shakespearian concert, where the audience will become an integral part of the show”

Gbenga had disclosed in a press conference held today at Jabi in Abuja that the aim of the event was to encourage talent and creativity in the country, stating that the highlight of the event will be the award segment where talents will be rewarded for their outstanding performance in their area of specialty.  According to him, the best in photography, new media publicity, Fashion and Tailoring, Music productions, Innovations and inventions will be awarded accordingly.

The gospel artiste had stressed that over 13,000 people have been nominated for the award, and the organizers are currently working round the clock to ensure that the best 5 are picked for the award without sentiments.

The outspoken Pastor had reiterated further that the aim of the award was to increase performance and productivity among striving Nigerian youth, who are constantly confronted by unemployment.

He had assured that the winners would be encouraged in other areas even after they are given the award. He had opined that the new social media as well as the electronic media will be used to put the winners in the public glare.

Gbenga had affirmed that the theme of this Edition of the concert will be tagged “Total Recall”, asserting that the event will commence by 5pm and ends 8pm at Hall 3, 4^th floor of the Silverbird Cinema in Abuja. He also disclosed that branded T. shirts for the event are already in circulation, and money generated from the sale of the T. shirts would be used to support a Nigerian, Meka who is supposed to undergo a kidney transplant.

    

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Charlyboy Confesses in Church

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Charlyboy and dad welcome King Davidson to Nigeria

                                             King Davidson, Justice Oputa and Charlyboy

The WBO Light Middle Weight Champion, King Davison Emenogu, popularly known as “Hand of God” has traveled far and wide in Boxing and has had over five titles to his credit in boxing.  Currently, the Imo born award winning boxer who currently shuttles between Australia and the United Kingdom is the world Light Middle Weight Champion. Even though not much has been said about him in Nigeria, the 27 year old Davidson has had the opportunity of fighting very tough opponents in the world.

Asking King Davidson questions on why he decided to come to Nigeria within this period, he said “there is no place like home. I feel I have achieved so much, yet in Nigeria, not much is known about me. My fathers, Areafada (Charlyboy) and T.B Joshua have asked me to come to Nigeria so they could present me to Nigerians, and to start work with them as soon as possible. Right now, the Areafada has put me in one of the best hotels in Abuja, and he is doing things for me in the most selfless way”

King Davidson had also emphasized that Charlyboy has been one of the few in the country who have inspired his creativity. According to him, Apart from my father, Mr Emenogu who gave me that early training I needed in boxing, people like Charlyboy have actually inspired my life. I’m where I’m today because I have always looked up to people like Charlyboy, he is my Idol. When I called him, and I told him to take me as his son, he told me, my son, you are already my son. He said he was going to get back to me, and that he would ask his Press Secretary to check through my profile on the internet. I was the happiest person that moment his press man sent me a mail, declaring that Charlyboy had accepted to welcome me into his abode. He had invited me to come down so he could introduce me to one or two people who may appreciate who I’m and what I have achieved for the country, and since I came in,  he has been so wonderful to me”

Also speaking on his relationship with T.B Joshua, the man with the heavy punch said “T.B Joshua has been very supportive of me right through my career. He gave me both financial and moral supports and has been following my career ever since then. Today, I’m called ‘Hand of God”, because a man of God has ordained my career. He predicts almost all my past fights.

  

Asking him on his amateur career, Davidson said,   “I represented Nigeria in the Common wealth game where I won bronze and in the All African games where I smiled home with a gold medal.  In total, I have fought over 180 times as an amateur boxer, and won 175 out of this total before I proceeded for my professional career.

Speaking on his achievements as a professional boxer, Davidson said, “I have fought sixteen times and lost one time. That was in Japan. I have always knocked out my opponent. Currently, I’m holding 5 titles. I’m the current IBF Champion, WBO African Champion, PABA/WBA Champion, Australian Title, and current holder of the Light Middle Weight Champion in the world.

Speaking on his marital status, Davidson said “I’m married to a white woman, Serena who has a daughter for me. My daughter Tiana is very close to me, and I love her., she is a super model. My wife is an inspiration. I’m very happy that I’m married to such a beautiful, caring and lovely wife. She has been a wonderful wife.

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Charlyboy's Official Press Release on Gay, Illuminati Story

CHARLY BOY PRESS RELEASE!!

THE VICIOUS GAY AND ILLUMINATI STORY IS A CALCULATED ATTEMPT TO RUIN ME AND MY BRAND!

1.   1.It is with a heavy heart that I issue this press release regarding the vile rumors published by National Mirror and Daily Independent, and which has now gone viral in over 100,000 websites and blogs in the last one week, to the effect I had confessed to being gay, and to being the head of the dreaded illuminati fraternity in Nigeria. In all my years as a Public Commentator, Human Rights Activist and Entertainer, I have never had to deal with such an insidious report that appears to be directly calculated to portray me in the worst possible light at a time such as this. The two leading newspapers did not just claim to be reporting an opinion; they actually reported these wicked lies as FACTS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.    2. For the avoidance of any doubt, I want to assure Nigerians that I am NOT gay and I am NOT part of any organization called the ‘illuminati’ in any way shape or form. I also categorically state that any reports of my alleged ‘confession’ to any newspaper is a figment of the imagination of my detractors, and a very insidious attempt to destroy my hard-earned reputation, and that of my Charly Boy brand, all in the mad rush of some newspapers, specifically the National Mirror and the Daily Independent, to increase their circulation through spurious and attention grabbing stories.

 

3.   3. Ordinarily, I would not be alarmed if this attack is coming from faceless people or inconsequential such as the Danfo Express, the newspaper that the Daily Mirror and Daily Independent claimed to have first reported the story. I would probably also not have been so upset if these newspapers were simply voicing their fair opinions of my personal life or business life. That would be all par for the course for my brand and persona, which has been admittedly controversial over the years, due to my relentless pursuit of justice for the people, fight for the rights of musicians and my tireless energy in extending the boundaries of creative entertainment in my legitimate bid to maximize my creative talents. It is however a different thing entirely when otherwise reputable organizations such as the DAILY MIRROR AND THE DAILY INDEPENDENT took it upon themselves to champion A NON-EXISTENT ALLEGED CONFESSION as FACT! These Newspapers have deliberately reported as FACT that I ‘confessed to being a gay and head of illuminati in Nigeria’. These newspapers inexplicably did this without the elementary courtesy of checking this explosive story with me before going to town with their attention grabbing headlines. Yet, the management of these newspapers knew, or ought to have known, that an explosive story of a ‘confession to being gay or head of illuminati’ will certainly lead to incalculable damage, even to a controversial brand such as mine.

 

4.    4. I am further grieved that having given an opportunity to the two mainstream daily papers that broke this story, DAILY MIRROR AND NATIONAL INDEPENDENT, to publicly retract this story and apologize for their error, through personal texts, emails, and even letters form my attorneys, these newspapers have continued to ignore my plight and distress with their false reporting. Rather than showing genuine remorse in order to convince me that the error was unintentional, THEY HAVE FAILED, REFUSED AND NEGLECTED TO RETRACT THE STORY OR APOLOGISE FOR SAME. Even as of the release of this Press Release, these damaging stories are still very much visible on the online pages of these newspapers. This has further confirmed my suspicions that these newspapers only cared about increasing their circulation rather than reporting the truth, or protecting the reputation of a public figure such as mine.

 

5.    5. Ever since these stories broke, with the DAILY MIRROR AND NATIONAL INDEPENDENT leading the way among the daily newspapers, I have been inundated with angry calls by my friends, admirers, business associates and family members who have expressed their disgust, disappointment and shock at the ‘confessions’ they have been reading about in different forums. My businesses have irreparably suffered and my family seriously mortified in the public eye. The general public, who believed these false stories, because it was coming from seemingly reputable organizations, such as National Mirror and National Independent, have also vilified me in hundreds of thousands of posts and comments on different blogs, websites and social networking forums. I have essentially become an object of ridicule worldwide as a result of these wicked lies being reported as FACT. In fact, one of my daughters recently wrote me a heart-breaking letter on how this development has affected her emotionally to the point where she was even ashamed and scared of going out in public!

 

6. 6.In order to protect my name and my brand from ignominious extinction by the recalcitrant newspapers that started these false lies, DAILY MIRROR AND DAILY INDEPENEDENT, I have therefore given very firm instructions to my attorneys to do everything legally possible to hold the people responsible for this accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Since they have refused to apologize and retract their vicious lies, they will be made to face the full wrath of the law. I have made a career of fighting for the rights of others and I will certainly not be shy in fighting for my own rights in a situation such as this.

7. In conclusion, I sincerely ask for ALL responsible members of the Press to respect my fundamental human right to dignity, by not continuing to perpetuate this falsehood and malicious rumors. I also want to implore those who have innocently repeated these damaging lies on their blogs, websites and social forums to make efforts to remove the same from their publications even as I continue to hold the chief perpetrators, DAILY MIRROR AND NATIONAL INDEPENDENT, primarily accountable for starting this public lynching of my name and reputation.

 

SIGNED: CHARLES OPUTA, A/K/A CHARLY BOY

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Charlyboy Foundation extends its hands of fellowship to Tunde

The life history of Mr. Tunde, a vendor who has received the favour of the Charlyboy foundation cannot be recounted  without the mention of the foundation. The resourceful young man who was into vendor business and thought life would end in the streets is now in his final year. It would be recalled that Tunde is one of the few students chosen by the foundation to be seen through school, and today the young man received the sum of 150,000 naira from the CB foundation as part of his final year school fees and research. Tunde has this to say " I didn't believe that human beings are their neighbor's God until the Charlyboy Foundation came to my rescue. Since then, my life has not remained the same. I'm a final year student of the University of Abuja today, and I will be proud to say that my life story will never be complete without all the drama associated with it through the Charlyboy Foundation. I don't have much to say yet, until I drop my pen on that deal day"

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VACANCY

 Job in Nigeria;

Feature Job; An Administrative Manager is needed in a Nigerian Company ( New Wave Productions),  a leading global entity in the field of Marketing Communications, Event Planning and Management, Public Relations consulting and Youth Advocacy. As an outfit, the company has successfully provided media, event and entertainment services in Nigeria for over two decades now. The foremost leader in the provision of audio and audio visual productions, Public Relations and Marketing services, brand, media, events solutions and consultancy. This exceptional and fast moving media Production Company is currently seeking for resourceful people that will add value to its cooperate existence. The company is located in the heart of Abuja and can be accessed at www.charlyboy.org/newwave. 

Interested applicants must meet the following criteria;

-Must possess a first degree in a related field

- Must have lived abroad for a minimum of 5 years

-Must be above 30 years of age

-  Must have a positive and motivating influence

- Must be result oriented, entrepreneurial and self-motivating

-Must possess good planning and organizational ability

- Must possess a high level of interpersonal communication ability

-Must possess analytical skills; ability to define problems, collect detail data, analyze, interpret results and recommend changes and improvements.

Interested applicants who meet the above criteria must send CV with Phone number to newwaveproductionsn@gmail.com on or before February 29^th, 2012.

Note: Only successful applicant will be contacted.

NOTE; None Nigerians who are qualified for the job would be provided with a befitting accommodation in the capital city of Abuja and would be paid handsomely.

Job in Nigeria

Feature Job; Writer/ proof-reader

We are seeking qualified and professional writers who have natural flair for writing and are proficient enough to work without much supervision.

Applicant must meet the following criteria;

-Must possess first degree in a related field

-Must be incredibly proficient in English 

-Must be creative and spontaneous

- Must be able to meet deadlines

Interested applicants who meet the above criteria must send CV with Phone number to newwaveproductionsn@gmail.com on or before February 25^th, 2012.

Note: Only successful applicant will be contacted.

NOTE; None Nigerians who are qualified for the job would be provided with a befitting accommodation in the capital city of Abuja and would receive good pay.

For further information, please call 07026028479

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WE WILL REMAIN ON THE STREETS EVEN IF LABOUR, TUC COMPROMISE; CHARLYBOY

WE WILL REMAIN ON THE STREETS EVEN IF LABOUR, TUC COMPROMISE;

CHARLYBOY       

 

 The Areafada has pushed another button with a different question in the current crisis that bedeviled the nation. While speaking with our correspondents in what was tagged sleep-out by the  Occupy Nigerian group, the Areafada who also slept on the street of Abuja till the early hour of Friday had affirmed that the questions that his constituency (youths) are asking is an economic question and not just on the removal of fuel subsidy. He had stressed that even if the government agrees with the popular opinion of the Nigerian masses, what then becomes of the people thereafter? According to him, "they could decide to do the worst to us even with subsidy in place. The question is do we really trust them? Do they even care about us?" 

 Charlyboy who disagreed with the assertion that removal of Fuel Subsidy is the only way out of the current crisis stated that the responsiveness of Nigerian leaders is one major ways that can take Nigerians out of this dungeon. “You see, I'm here not because I do not have work to do, I'm here not because I don't enjoy my bed. I'm here because like many here, we have decided to sleep on the streets just to express our disappointment over the failure of our leaders and the deteriorating state of things in the country. We are not just asking the government to revert back to 65 naira... What we are saying is that we are no longer ready to compromise with a government that does not care about the well being of its citizens. We have been patient enough all these years, and thank God Labour and TUC have created this forum for us to ask our leaders some other sensitive questions. Henceforth, it's not going to be about the Nigerian Labour Congress, but that common man on the streets who feels the pain more than any other person. What about education, corruption, power, water, roads, employment and a host of others? What if there was no oil in Nigeria? What would have become of the country? The government should stop using Subsidy to console itself for its insensitivity and total failure to govern the country and fulfill its part of the contract to the  people now, else do not be surprised that the strike may be over, yet we will continue with our protest. As I speak to you, some great Nigerians have made up their minds and are ready to die on the streets for this country, at least for the future of the next generation". CB opined.  

 Responding to our question on the way forward, the General of the People's Army had affirmed that Nigerians cannot hope or rely on the unknown tomorrow but want immediate response from the government as regards their present condition. “We cannot be living on empty Promises of the unknown tomorrow when we have all it takes to deal with the problem as it stands now. Nigerian youth are not, and will not be ready to compromise their present predicament for any talk on subsidy. The wind has blown already and the anus of the fowl has been exposed. We are holding them accountable for the deeds of the past and even now. We will be holding them accountable for the hunger, the unemployment, the rejection, the lie, the treachery, the corruption, and most importantly, the dead of about thirty five protesters who were killed at the course of this exercise..  The general insecurity of the country is our source of worries. We cannot continue to sleep with one eye open in our own country. We need to be sure of our security. We doubt if this government that has admitted having some cabals even in the cabinet has the well-wither to solve the present national palava.  But if they think they can better our lives in the shortest time possible, then, let them come out and renew their contract with us. Let them prove to us even now that it's not the usual sermon. If that is not the case with or without Subsidy, the people, our people, my people will remain on the Streets" Charlyboy had concluded. The Areafada had advised labour leaders to make proper consultation with the Nigerian people, especially civil Society groups before making decisions that may generate further crisis.  Speaking further, Charlyboy expresses joy over the cooperation between the Nigerian youth and Labour, but warns the present Labour Union to become more sincere in order not to work against the interest of the people, even as they negotiate on behalf of the people.

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NIGERIANS INSIST ON FUEL SUBSIDY AS PROTEST RUNS INTO DAY 2; CHARLYBOY INSISTS ON BETTER COMMUNICATION APPROACH

As the Nigerian mass uprising enters the second day on Tuesday morning, it was observed that there was an impressive turn out by Nigerians who came out in large number to express their grievances over the current hike in fuel price and compelling the Federal government to accept the popular position of the Nigerian masses by reverting back the pump price of fuel to 65 naira per litre.

Speaking at the Freedom Square in the FCT, the leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress and some popular activists have insisted that the strike would continue as long as the Federal Government continues to turn its deaf ears to their outcry. Some of the protesters had affirmed that President Goodluck Jonathan either accepts their position or faces the consequence.

Popular Nigerian entertainer and activist, Charlyboy responded to questions from the press, stating that the government should understand the language of the people and learn to speak the language of the people just for possible harmonization. Charlyboy who expressed his disappointment over the spate of breakdown of law and order in the country stated that the government has failed the people in several ways and it will be extremely difficult to gain the same trust back. Stating further, the popular Areafada had opined that a more professional approach towards the removal of subsidy would have been better.

Meanwhile, the former FCT minister, Mallam El-Rufai joined the group on the streets and commended Nigerians for their zeal and zest in this fight. He urged Labour and other civil society group to remain consistent in their fight until the government begins to speak their language.

Relatively, Lagos protest witness a tremendous turn of people as the masses converged at Gani Fawehinmi Park to insist that they will continue to storm the streets until the Federal government listens to their demands.

Meanwhile the federal government has today issued a communiqué drawing the attention of the Nigerian Labour body to the policy of no work no pay, asking the NLC to call off the strike in order to avoid such consequence.

It was however gathered that some youth who are believed to have been paid by the Federal Government also stormed the streets of Abuja shortly after the NLC protest had been suspended for the next day, chanting support for the removal of subsidy. Some of the youth who spoke with our correspondents highlighted the benefits of the fuel subsidy removal and urged the Nigerian masses to understand with the government on this very important policy.

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