Born Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, also known as CB and His Royal Punkness, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on June 19, 1950, Charly Boy or Area Fada is an enigmatic character, singer, entertainer and social engineer.

The second son of former Supreme Court Justice, Chukwudifu Oputa, the Oguta-native was born into a Catholic household, describes his parents as liberals who encouraged their children to express themselves freely.

From 1982, when he ventured into the music industry, to 1984, when he independently released the highlife single, Obodo GiriGiri, his career has come full circle.

In 1985, he was nearly denied a record deal with Polygram Nigeria owing to his unconventional appearance until he was introduced to the label’s managing director, Ton Seysener, who signed him, and Nwata Miss was released.

Towards the late 80s, Oputa with the help of stylist and fellow singer/songwriter, the late Tyna Onwudiwe, African Oyibo, created a new punk persona consisting of leather jackets and boots, power bikes, mohawks, and a new direction in music, combining African pop and Afrobeat.

Oputa’s most popular album, 1990, was released in 1988, with the title referring to the year Nigeria’s corrupt military government was expected to hand over power to civilians in that year, although this did not commence until 1999.

1990 earned Oputa mixed reviews due to its political nature. It caused national controversy, and several radio stations refused to play the title track. Despite this, 1990 was one of Nigeria’s best-selling albums of 1988, and Oputa was credited with using his music to stand up to his government, a lá Fela Kuti. The album included the song, Big Bottom, a tribute to the female derriere. In most Nigerian states it was denied airplay on radio owing to its somewhat raunchy lyrics.

Songs like Nwata Miss and Big Bottom became mainstream highlife-pop anthems, celebrated for their infectious rhythms and unabashedly provocative themes.

Charly Boy’s music reflects over four decades of pop, highlife, and Afrobeat rebellion, explicitly driving social commentary and challenging conservative Nigerian norms. The Area Fada has leveraged his eccentric, biker-themed alter ego to pioneer an alternative musical era in Nigeria.

In recent years, Charly Boy shifted heavily toward musical activism, aiming his art directly at bad governance, systemic exploitation, and religious corruption.

Long known as the “Area Fada,” he has spent decades organising protests, challenging bad governance, and speaking out against societal corruption and injustice in Nigeria.

He frequently advocates for young Nigerians, urging them to challenge status-quo politics, take charge of their civic responsibilities, and shape the country’s future.

He maintains strong stances on national identity, recently championing inclusivity and declaring that major diverse hubs like Lagos belong to all Nigerians regardless of tribe.

With songs such as Our Mumu Don Do (2017), a revolutionary anthem calling on everyday Nigerians to awake from political docility to God Of Men (Fake Pastors) (2020), a heavy-hitting collab with Falz targeting spiritual manipulation to Naija Matter (2023), a modern track tackling contemporary Nigerian challenges, his musical style has been a merger traditional highlife guitars with synth-pop and Afrobeat baselines, almost always delivered with a spoken-word or conversational vocal style. His musical legacy remains anchored in how he opened the door for future generations of Nigerian alternative, anti-conformist musicians.

Known as an advocate for the masses, social justice, and good governance, he recently shifted a major part of his public focus toward men’s health advocacy.

After surviving a personal battle with prostate cancer, he launched the Charly Boy Foundation to promote early detection, diagnosis, and treatment for men.

His health foundation tackles broader issues affecting aging men, including mental health awareness and diabetes care. High-profile figures like former President Olusegun Obasanjo have backed these health campaigns.

Recently, he had an unforgettable launch of his new book, 999, with former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, leading the assemblage of distinguished Nigerians present at the event, he couldn’t have asked for a more compelling gathering. He speaks on Charly Boy Foundation and his new book 999.

Let us begin by congratulating you on the successful launch of 999. How did that make you feel, seeing all of the efforts you put into the success it achieved?
First and foremost, I’m the biggest critic of Charly Boy as Mr. Oputa. So, there’s hardly anything Charly Boy would do that can impress me like that. But I must say that it turned out to be like a seamless programme, the series of events that played out in the venue. It seemed so seamless. It was exciting. It was typical Charly Boy. And I noticed, as Mr. Oputa, that a lot of people were elevated, so to speak, just being there, witnessing the show, watching the show, and all that played out on stage. So even though as a critic of my creation, Charly Boy, I’ll just give that show a 50 per cent in my book because, yeah, I’m that way. It could have been better. But I am happy also about the team that got together to do that job. I mean, it can’t get any better.

What essentially would you say guests took away from that book launch?
I know OBJ almost stole the show as he did his Atilogwu stunt by jumping off the stage and all the questions that have been playing in people’s head that I asked him and he had to answer live and direct, you know, like the rumour that says he’s really not a Yoruba man, that he may be an Igbo man. Okay, he fought the civil war, what were the things he regretted doing? And what were the good things he thought he did during the war, and so on and so forth. I like the part Dr. Alban cancelled his gig in Russia just to be in Nigeria to do that small thing he did. You know, the book reviewer took it to another intellectual dimension. And then of course, we had poetry by Dike Chukwumerije. You know how that one is, I’m a big fan of his. And then we had the Symphony band, the Ace band who entertained us. It went all the way from the old jazz thing to contemporary music, which was very, very good.

So, generally on the whole, we all know that book launching can be kind of boring since it’s an intellectual thing, more or less an intellectual exercise. But this was very Charly Boyish in nature. So it held attention. And the feedback has been very positive. But the big story is that we’re taking it to another level because in September, we’re going to go launch in London. After London, we’re doing Germany and after Germany, we’re going to do Kenya where I know Baba Obasanjo has a lot of things going on for him. He’s so, so loved in Kenya. So, we’re taking this on a global level.

How strong is this your passion to help men with prostate?
Since I was once a victim of prostate cancer, I just felt it behoves on me to do a very thorough campaign for men so they could be able to take more care of themselves. Men are usually the big culprit in terms of wellness, because it’s either they are not paying attention as they should, or they’ve learned to hide their problems. They can’t speak it out because of the brainwashing since time, they say men don’t cry. That’s if you’re a real man, anything that is worrying you, you chest it. And as an advocate of prostate challenge, I’ve been saying it loud and clear that we should emulate more of our women folk. They talk a lot. Anything that worries them, they’re always talking about their problems. So, we should speak out because, first and foremost, since in most families, the man is the head, and if the head is not well and there’s a problem with the head, then that means every other thing will derail because the head is not well.

And this is where I also advise women, ensure that your husband or your partner gets the kind of medical attention he should be getting. I know that because of the economic situation, person go chop first before you dey go medicine, yeah? So, aside the carelessness, aside the fear that men do have, okay, is this the end of me? Because a man that is struggling to survive and is also fighting with his penis, which is his precious, his most valuable possession and it seems like the network is not steady down there, then that is big trouble for the man. That is why all of this accumulates to men who just drop and die. So if the head is not well, the other department cannot function and that’s why I say it is time for men to start to learn to be a bit selfish. If you fall into a sickness that you know there is no way out, you will soon die, sebi when you do Will, do you add yourself to the Will? You can’t add yourself to the Will now, so if you can’t be a little bit selfish about your health to think about yourself, you know, some of us have gone through with all our life, we’ve worked for our partner, our wives, our children, our everything, neglecting ourselves. But that’s not fair. It’s not fair on the captain of the family. It’s not fair. And that is why I’ve urged men to be a bit selfish.

Share with us a bit about your experience so far with the foundation here in Nigeria. What sort of experiences have you had with men coming forward to open up on their prostate condition to you?
I’ve had strangers, total strangers, men I don’t even know, they call my number and they start to vocalise their testimony. They confide in me so much, you know, sometimes I’m even asking them, is all this information necessary? But it is necessary for me to understand where their head and their mind are. And you know, this particular disease or challenge affects men in various ways because as your mind thinketh…because good and bad things will keep happening to people, but we all react in different ways. And that is why I made it a duty to be out there to talk about my plight, so other men will not hide behind fear or hiding behind all hope is lost. And the community of the people I talk to on a daily has expanded so much, but you see, I’m always doing things that speak to my soul. I don’t do things just for doing it or to chase clout, they must speak to my soul. And that is why I’ve remained consistent, tenacious, and audacious about most of the things that I do.

But I must confess that this idea of starting a foundation was not Mr. Oputa’s idea in the first place. It was my very good friend, schoolmate, called Leo Stan Ekeh of Zinox Computer, and he was the one who introduced the idea to me. And he said to me, rather than sitting and getting frustrated with what the government is doing or not doing, I know you’re a people’s person, why don’t you face this direction? And ever since he told me that, I have not looked back, because like I said, I do things that speak to my soul and that is why I’m deeply involved. I’ve been listening to you at several forums, speaking about your own personal experience. Would you say you’re impressed with the degree of response from the men who have been coming out?

I am very, very, very impressed. And if it continues like this, I can’t imagine how many thousands of men will be influenced by my own personal experience as Mr. Oputa and my own courage in dealing with this problem. And I don’t know how to lie. I can’t lie. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you as it is. And I’ll share some experiences, which will even make the listeners cringe. You know, ah! Did you do that? Did you really do that? Yes, I did. You know, people think that when they see me, they say, ah, but why don’t you ever age? It’s not like I don’t age, of course. I’m getting older and my body is doing something different that I don’t know, that I never planned for, but I just carry everything with a smile, with some happiness. So, when people see me, I think that’s when they see Charly Boy. I think what they’re looking at is the spirit that lives in Charly Boy and that’s why we can’t attribute aging to him like that. It’s the spirit that they see and the spirit is youthful and useful, you can imagine, at 70 something. Well, what am I talking about? If OBJ can be jumping, doing Atilogwu at 90 something, me, I never start.

If hopefully, in the coming months, you’re done with this tour of the three different countries you mentioned, what level are you hoping to take this to next?
Globally, and I probably will need to do a movie, a short movie, that I want to present in the next Cannes Festival, you know, something focusing on people living with prostate cancer. Because I intend to take this to a different level, I swear to God. And there may be more talks coming up in the future. So, like I said in the beginning, we’re using 999, the book launch to call attention to men’s health challenges and the Charlie Boy Foundation, what we do and why we’re set up for that.