To Charlieboy Oputa, the government of the day does not listen to the advice of its citizens, and does not even care to plan for the future of its youths, who according to him are the future leaders of the country. He said that he has become tired, having talked and written to the government several times for that which according to him was treated as if he has been talking and and writing to a brick wall. In his conclusion, that was enough to say that the government is deaf, dumb and does not care for the youth. He urged the focused ones among the youth to come together for their future. Due to the carefree attitude of the government, most of the youths, according to him engage in vices such as armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of restiveness. He equally apportioned blames to the parents for failure to give the young ones the kind of guidance expected of them, but he didn’t hesitate to point out that the reason behind the failure of parents was because the parents were handicapped and frustrated by poor economy and environment caused by bad leadership in Nigeria. And because of this, the kids according to him were left on their own without proper guidance and the result was restiveness of all kinds.
However, the youths’ motivator informed that his plan to host Njiko Festival in his country home of Oguta in Imo state was not only to rekindle Igbo culture, value and language, but also to sell hope to the youths in the south east. He said that he has done things in the west and the north and this time around, he wants to go homewards. Oputa therefore informed that he didn’t start his charity work from the east, adding that part of what he does is philanthropy. “May be out of guilt or what have you, I have to go homeward to see how I can use my life story to inspire young people to chase their dream. My success is as a result of my several failures and I shall use my experience to inspire the young ones in the east,” he promised.
Charlieboy therefore said that the festival would go a long way to make the youth to be focused, saying that it is when you are focused, then you will be busy as well as think for the future. Speaking on the need to make the youth a priority, this entertainer of repute wondered if that of the old man like himself who is already 66 the government wants to make a priority.
Though he maintained not to give any advice to the government again for what he earlier saw as dumbness and deafness on them, but Charlieboy however preferred to talk to the Avengers, the kidnappers, armed robbers and Biafra agitators. To the Avengers, he believed that all they were doing were giving problems to the government and urged them to pipe down. Though he condemned armed robbery and kidnapping, but was quick to say if the perpetrators can’t stop it they should go after those politicians who have been looting the money that belongs to all, instead of going after innocent citizens who have been striving to survive. “Robbery and kidnapping are not good. But should they insist to go about it, let them come so that we plan and go after all the politicians who have been looting our money instead of terrorizing innocent citizens who are striving to survive. Kidnap governors, the ministers and those looters. If you put fears into them, they may even stop from such acts,” he opined.
When asked, he said that he believed in one Nigeria against its split being agitated by some. Calling that the country goes back to the core values of the time when the country had three regions and later four, he said that people agitated for more states and it was done and no positive difference. To that, Charlieboy Oputa wondered if splitting the country would do us better when creation of many states couldn’t. “What we need is reorientation in order to address the failures of today’s leaders” he stated.
He also shed lights on why he has shunned politics. Hear him: “ I am from a rich and family of reputation and heritage. I had a father who brought me up in that direction who wasn’t a money bag, but a man of integrities. We of Oputa family don’t chase after money like today’s politicians, but over principles and values and I was fed up on that,” he explained. Against the belief that until the death of his father, the artiste was not in good term with him, Charlieboy also shed light on.
“ Contrary to my belief, I was born by parents who believed that you should go to school, get job and be pensioned on retirement. But today, you hear of retirees whose who died waiting their pensions and the government didn’t do anything to those who embezzled their pensions, because of the corruption in the government.
“Right from onset, I believed in being myself by being hardworking and tenacious. Even in a crooked society like ours, you are bound to succeed if you are tenacious and hardworking. Before the death of my father, he had a great respect for who I grew up to be, because that thing he said would never work had worked and he saw it. That was why the ultimate respect that anyone gave me was the one my father. Life for me was like anybody can go and die,” he said.
On what he would like to be moralized for, he said: “It is just to keep that Oputa name aljve, because Charlieiboy was born by somebody. In Nigeria, we keep glorifying bad things and that is why things are going bad. Should there be reward for goodness, people will try to be good.
“ If you commit crime and make money, you will be glorified without trying to find out how you made the money. So I may be a Nigerian and be in Nigeria, but I am not a Nigerian in that direction,” he said, adding, “when you have riffraff and fraudsters who are there at the National Assembly, what are you expecting; are they from Ghana?” he quarried. He therefore said that the government and those in the government should not continue to be blamed, but the followership too for approbating.
Source:BreakinTimes
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