People call him ‘The Youth Ambassador’ while his fans identify him as Areafada. Mr. Charles Oputa is one man in Nigeria that has used his fame and fortune to touch lives across his fatherland. He has been in the vanguard of every fight for the rights of the common man including the just ended fuel price hike protest . In this interview with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND Editor, AMINA ALHASSAN AHMAN and ANTHONY ADA ABRAHAM, he talks about his position on the recent industrial strike, his life style and the way forward for the nation. Excerpts
You are seen by many Nigerians as one of the heroes who led the protests during the week-long nationwide industrial strike. How do you feel about that?
Anyway, we thank God. It was a battle we all had to fight for our country. It was quite a terrible moment for most of us who were part of the protest as we didn’t pray to be on the streets in protest by that time, only that circumstances warranted it. It is sad that, when most countries in the world celebrate their leaders, we are protesting against our leaders.? However, it was a necessary evil just to save our country from being hijacked by some oppressors.? I also feel terribly sad since I still can’t see the way forward even after the strike has been called off.
Truly, it is not the best times for most of us Nigerians. Already times are hard for most of us and to be compelled by circumstances to bear with extra demands on our very lean resources is just crazy. Look around and show me one part of our lives that we can turn to for succour. ASUU is on strike, and our kids are at home, even the schools are not what they used to be in our time. The tariff on electricity has gone up, yet how many times do we have electricity? For the private business people, how do they run their business? Corruption has become a legal tender in the country.
This is a country where people cannot hold their leaders accountable in the management of public funds. Naturally, people started to express their dissatisfaction with the way things are run, and the fact is that, as the days roll by, their lot gets worse. Meanwhile, government didn’t help matters by introducing the 140 price hike in PMS.
The people now started to feel that government has turned into a big bully with no sensitivity towards the people it governs. So the NLC national protest opened a lot of things which were hidden before; the people got angry and took to the streets in protest. Rightly or wrongly, Nigerians believe that low petroleum product prices are a given right in the absence of any social cushions and have protested vigorously through labour strikes each time these prices were increased. All of these disruptions have wide spread political implications. At the beginning of the rally, even the police joined in some states.
After all, is it not the same market we all go to and the same fuel we buy? Every country subsidizes something. Take away fuel subsidy, what is the government going to subsidize? Are we made to pay for government’s recklessness in squandering our money?
You were at the Abuja rally with your power bikers throughout the duration of the strike, how did it make you feel when it was called off by the NLC and what is to be learnt from the strike. Did it make any difference?
The government has made its point; we the people have made our point, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. I have never seen so much information and misinformation move with so much amazing speed, and in the face of all of that, we even got smart in differentiating good information and the ones planted to distract and confuse us. Lies fly around with the speed of lighting, but the truth crawls and it is so slow. The truth started coming out like wild fire concerning the game, the deceit, the deals by the almighty cabalistic characters.
More people have come out with their own version of the real reason why Nigeria needs to stop a subsidy that should not have existed in the first instance, as they watch the romance between the government and the cabal stray, because you can’t have capitalism without capital. The once happiest nation in the world, the suffering and smiling Nigerians have finally discovered that the government is nothing but a ‘Big Fat Lie’, that its insatiable appetite for waste , and its financial recklessness has become a new art form, I’m impressed with the role of the Nigerian youth in the whole scheme of things, I got the feeling that for once they have resolved to take their future in their hands, because this country will only be saved by its exceptional youths.
I believe that NLC did the right thing to call it off when it did, in the first place people had to regroup and the security agents were starting to get nasty, so we had to retreat to advance once again our popular sentiment about this government, I know in some quarters people thought they sold out, I don’t think so, but I must say right here and now that this struggle is now beyond NLC we are all involved.
Some armed military personnel invaded Lagos to harass protesters after the strike had been called off. Was that the only way to the resolution of the crisis?
That obviously shows the inability of our government to manage crisis in a democratic setup. The deployment of the federal troop to Lagos was uncalled for. It was undemocratic for the government to have ordered well-armed soldiers after some innocent and unarmed free citizens of the country who have the fundamental human right to freely express themselves, unless if they want to tell us that there was war in Lagos, or our government has become autocratic. It is uncivil and dictatorial; this is one the mistakes that the government keeps making that have always boomeranged. However, I commend the maturity and civility with which the situation was managed by the Lagos state government.??
What do you think of the new pump price of petrol?
There is no new pump price of Petrol as it stands now. What we have is simply an imposition of petrol pump price on Nigerians. How many people were consulted before this imposition? You see, you call it new pump price of petrol and I wonder if in reality, it’s the new pump price. All I know is that we are yet to have a new pump price because the government cannot take a unilateral decision on behalf of its citizens when they have already stated their obvious pain. Even with Labour compromising, you still need to ask yourself; have 30 percent of the Nigerian masses you saw on the streets during the protest compromised? I don’t think so.
We don’t fight and just stop half way. The question we should be asking ourselves at the moment is whether the essence of the entire struggle was to see fuel price shifted down slightly and temporarily? No, that wasn’t the aim of the protest. Our protest was designed to achieve a purposeful result. It was to force the government to revert to 65 naira per litre before any further discussions. That the Nigerian Labor Congress decided to tactfully back down does not make the 97 naira pump price binding on us.?
Nigerians saw that their leaders were truly their problems. Nigerians saw the need to unite against corrupt leaders and bad policy.? I just didn’t like the fact that the sit at home protest was also called off, pending when our demands are met…
What should Nigerians be expecting from you and other civil right groups?
We will assure Nigerians that we are not going to rest until the change that we all yearn for is realized. On the issue of fuel subsidy, we will not give up, no matter the NLC position.? We will continue to push on until the Federal Government finds a better platform to convince Nigerians on the removal of fuel Subsidy. We will not accept the imposition of 97 naira per litre. We want to understand all the indices of subsidy and its removal before we can consent to FG and Labour’s position, if not, on 65 naira we stand!!
It was alleged that some celebrities including the AGN President SegunArinze and others collected N200, 000.00 each to support the removal of subsidy….
It is quite unspeakable for anyone or someone whom the society sees as a role model to indulge in such criminal act of selling their ward for money, no matter how small or big the amount.? Well, what do you expect from people in such a rotting environment? What do you expect to get from people when poverty rules the land?? What do you expect from people when corruption has been legalized? I’m not surprised anyway. But my philosophy has always been that there is always honesty in a dishonest society, however, it takes a heart of a lion to be steadfast while imbibing the culture of integrity.
It will be unfair for some celebrities who should have come out openly to challenge an obnoxious and untimely policy such as that, to have ended up shortchanging the masses. Maybe, some of them believe that the meagre sum of N200, 000.00 will create a different economic environment for them. Really, that is not the case, because we will still buy from the same market, ply the same road, and use the same fuel. How can you sell the future of your people for money? It’s unfair. If the allegation is true, then it’s unfortunate.
As a voice for the teeming unemployed youths, how will you ensure that the Federal government lives up to its promises of creating more jobs and palliatives to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal?
It is one thing for the government to understand that Nigerian youths need some assurance, and there is another thing for them to know and ignore such assurance and promises during the subsidy regime. The only way out for the government and for the youth is to find a better forum to communicate its intention and promises to the youth and also devise the most effective strategy for this assurance. Without this, I will authoritatively tell the Nigerian youth that we cannot rear our fish in a porous pond and that is why I’m here for them.
At sixty, you are still looking thirty and you haven’t changed in the past 15 years. It is amazing that when your peers and your con temporaries are getting older, you are getting younger, how come?
It’s you guys who are trying to make me old by force. Sometimes I think some people wish they could say I’m seventy or more. I never told anyone that I was sixty, but sixty has become my press age.
So how old are you?
How would I know when my mother has gotten the date all mixed up? I have heard crazy stories about this brand called Charlyboy. Stories? about plastic surgeries, stories about being a vampire, because I sleep in a coffin sometimes,? even stories about being occultic; some crazy stuff, some too unreal? to put in words. However, that has always been as it was intended. I feel twenty four, because I have surrounded myself with everything playful and youthful. I love the youth, they are my constituent. I learn from them and also share my personal experiences with them. As Mr. Charles Oputa, the playful and youthful expressions of the Charlyboy brand have rubbed off on me seriously.
How have you maintained your youthful look?
I’m a health freak and very sensitive about what I eat. I follow my regular morning routine of jogging and gym as religiously as possible. I like staying healthy, eating well and generally giving my body a treat. I don’t try to indulge in negative activities that put a drain on me; I have learnt how not to stress myself. I sleep a lot, I don’t drink and I don’t womanize, even though as Charlyboy, women try to pick me up regularly. I’ m not making out that I’m all that, but I do try to live a clean life. I only have one bad habit I’m trying to stop, smoking; it’s not been an easy one, but I’m trying. Longevity runs in my family. My grandfather lived till a hundred and twenty years and my father is almost 98 and still doesn’t use a walking stick. It is really a gene thing and I’m proud I come from good stock.? I thank God that till date, I don’t even have a single grey hair on my head.
You’ve been able to keep your marriage to wife number five, Lady Diana intact. What’s the secret??
First, I thank God for his mercies. It has not been easy one bit, but this much should be said. If two people, with mutual respect, friendship and love are determined to make a union work, it will work. Do not also forget that I have picked up experience after having gone through almost four marriages in less than eight years. So I think these are some of the factors that helped me in this one. Women are all the same no matter where they are from. You must study their manual if you are to live in peace with them; they are basically the same. If you make a woman feel like a queen, make her understand that she comes first in your life, and treat her with dignity and respect; half of the problem is already solved.
We talk a lot, so at every point, each of us can almost tell what the other person is thinking.? We have a great friendship, she has seized to be just a wife long time ago; she is my girlfriend, my bitch, my whore, my sister, my mother, my confidant and so many things rolled in one.? As Mr. Oputa, we don’t allow Charlyboy into our house because he doesn’t belong there, and as Mr. Oputa, I take family matters as my number one priority; that includes my parents, wife, children and grandchildren since my family is my heritage.?
Family to me is my talisman, my juju if you may wish to call it so. As long as they are there, I’m untouchable. As Mr. Oputa, I don’t have a social life; it’s all about my work and my family, so I have very few distractions. That’s the reason why we don’t bring Charly into the house. I guess he will find it very boring.? But above and beyond all of that, my wife is God sent, my angle sent to keep me on the straight and narrow path and after a few failed marriages, God has rewarded me with this one.
What does the future hold for Nigeria?
With what I saw during the protest, I think we have a great future ahead of us. I said this to say that if Nigerians can agree with one another and come out in mass to speak against an obnoxious policy such as this, then I foresee a great future for the country.
But one thing we must do is to completely disassociate ourselves from bad leaders who have put us in this mess today, and we can always realize the tomorrow that we dream of.
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