Charly Boy, born Charles Chukwuemeka Oputa, the son of revered late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (22 September 1916 – 4 May 2014), has said his father’s type don’t exist anymore, referring to his principles in both his personal and professional life.
He made the point in a nostalgic post on Twitter on Thursday.
When somebody noted: “Your dad was a great Nigerian, we miss him,” Charly Boy replied: “I miss him more. He taught me many thing about values and principles.
“I don’t think I belong in such a decayed society (of today). My image may be loud but my life is simple and ordinary like my father taught me.
“To reconcile it with the values of these days is killing. Do you understand?”
He put up two pictures. One had him kissing his father, while the other was trademark Charly Boy themed, which had his father in baseball cap and tracksuit.
Charly Boy wrote: “I remember in the 1960s when my father was a successful lawyer in Port Harcourt.
“Everyday seemed like Christmas because he was always celebrating one thing or the other.
“As soon as he was made a judge in 1965 everything changed. He hardly attended any social functions and the house parties ceased.
“When my siblings and I would query him as to the sudden change, he would give us a long lecture on how judges should completely abstain from public life.
“That was then. They don’t make dem like that any more.”
Justice Oputa
Oputa, often described as the Socrates of the Supreme Court, was promoted Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1984, serving for five years.
Charly Boy’s father was recalled by the President Olusegun Obasanjo to head the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission of Nigeria (famous as ‘the Oputa Panel’) to investigate human rights violations during the military rule of 1984 to 1999.
