Self-styled, Area Father Charles Oputa popularly known as Charley Boy recently turned 70. He came to town and had a chat about the secret of his youthful look, his new EP he entitled, Area Father, PMAN issue, among many other relevant issues.
Excerpts:
How do you feel at 70?
I feel as normal as the same three years ago. I feel very enthused, I feel alive. I thank God but generally I am chilling and I feel good.
Any Regrets?
No, I will do it over and over again. I love my life. I love how I have unfolded over the years.
And what is the secret of your youthful self at 70?
It is a lot of things, not just one thing. But 40 percent of it is that I come from a good stock with people with longevity who God has blessed with good health. The other 60 per cent is lifestyle, habits and what have you. For that I am very mindful and I keep telling people that I am on a diet. A diet is not just what goes into my mouth, it is also about what I’m looking at, the people that surrounds me, what I want to listen to and a lot of that. My mental wellbeing is of paramount importance to me and because I don’t sleep with any weight on my mind and then the people that I hang around are very young people, so, they keep me energized and keep me younger.
You have a new EP entitled, ‘Area Father,’ what is it all about?
It is about me coming back to the things that have tickled me but in this time and space, for me, I’m weaponising my music in the sense that it is through my music that I could talk about all the frustrations we are feeling and proffer solutions to the problem and hopefully, the exceptional youth of this country that I have always maintained that the salvation of this country lies in their hands and sooner than later, there would be a great pushback. I still have hope because we either come to the table to talk about it or we start by fixing the faulty foundation of this country and that is the only way we can move forward without which of course we are all going to war.
In one of your new songs, you said ‘Naija go better,’ do you still believe that this country will be better?
I said that some people are staying somewhere saying Naija go better, some people are staying somewhere because their mumu never do. It implies that better will never drop from heaven if you don’t fight for better then your mumu never do.
Do you believe in one Nigeria?
No, I don’t because we are in bed with strange fellows who don’t understand us and we don’t understand them.
Do you still hold the view of the song you did in 1991about the corruption in the polity?
It is worse. The stealing has gotten worse. Everything has gotten worse. We are having the worst Nigeria of our lives. The Igbos, the Yorubas the Middle Belt should get themselves together because if people think that something is happening far away, it is just only a matter of time before it gets into their bedroom. Until they understand that that is what needs to be done, then nothing will change. The oppression will still go on. We have not seen the worst yet. The worst is yet to come and it would be disastrous and that is the consequences of our docility over the years.
Apart from organising yourselves, some people even from that side has told us, ‘arm yourselves, don’t return your guns, they want to trick you so you become a sitting duck.’ We are listening.
Sometime ago, you had to come out to support Daddy Freeze over his comment on scriptural doctrine against a top cleric. Are you a member of Daddy Freeze’s church?
I don’t belong to any church. I am church myself. But I can go to anybody’s church to hear what they are doing there, see what they are doing, hear their sermons especially people that make sense. Freeze is somebody I know. Somebody I have been following, somebody I am fond of, I like him. I like his messaging and I believe in a lot of things that he is talking about. I like him. There is no pretense about that among other young people that inspire me too.
What are your thoughts now about the Nigerian music industry?
Isn’t that what I said 20 years ago when they were treating the Nigerian artistes anyhow. I said there would come a time when Nigerian artistes will be respected. We haven’t even hit the glass ceiling yet, this is just a tip of the iceberg. What people keep forgetting is that they were people who fought for that to happen. There were people who respect and fought for the big money which is what the now artistes are enjoying now and of course it could be better in terms of the administration because music has become very cheap now. It could always be better. But it is a far cry from where we were especially during my tenure as a PMAN president and where we are now is like night and day. There is still room for a lot of improvement. I want to now start to see a lot more of our artistes on the world stage.
Are you not worried that after you left PMAN, everything scattered?
Where no scatter for Nigeria? Tell me one place wey no scatter for Nigeria? I will always be different. I will always do my own thing my own way. I am not one for a lot of words, my action speaks for me. You need to go with the passion to serve and to do things but you can’t go there as a poor person otherwise you cannot succeed. You need to have your own money not to go there and be looking for money trying to use it to access things. Your money and your passion about what you do, you will even charm people to like it the way you are passionate about it.
What should be done to bring PMAN back to its feet?
Unless there are people who will be sincere enough to do the work, it is time consuming. You cannot do any other thing but do it. You can’t be struggling to survive and you want to be PMAN president. Your attention would be divided. That is why I said you have to have your own money and have what is giving you money. So, you are doing it to prove that you can do it.
What are your plans in the next 10 years?
I am on a chilling level now. There is nothing that I want to do that I have not done before. My plan for the next 10 years till I die is to keep chilling, keep enjoying myself, and smile at the simplest thing. Live a simple life of contentment. Just always be in my own lane, don’t look left or right, I am not looking at anybody. I don’t care what anybody is saying. I just want to be happy and be at peace with myself. I’m out to have a grand chilling. The Nation
