Charlie Boy got every body talking with the picture of him sitting down during
his dad's burial and add to the infamous snatching of microphone from his
home Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Nigerians were entertained by the King of Punk.
However Charley Boy In
an Interview with Vanguard explained why he sat down all through the
requiem mass, the reason for snatching microphone from his home Governor.
- It made headlines last Saturday that you snatched the microphone
from Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Governor of Imo State, at the funeral
service. What informed your action?
I
didn’t embarrass him. I only insisted that I wouldn’t tolerate people with bad
political breath to preside over my father’s burial rites. The corpse belonged
to the Oputa family, and not the state or federal government.
Being
Charley Boy, my action creates a lot of controversies. I am not a politician
and I can never be one.I don’t do things the way every other person would want
to do them. My own things are
bound to be a little different. Integrity is my watchword and when I give you
my word, you can go to sleep. I expect same from people who deal with me. I
didn’t understand why somebody would graciously choose to assist us by making a
donation to the family and thereafter, they went on air to announce
it. That was not a gentleman action and it was what really angered
me.
Secondly, three days after my father’s death, I
sounded a note of warning that it won’t turn to a political thing. You know the
kind of father I had, and what he stood for. I don’t want them to politicize
his burial rites. After they made the donation, and I never denied that they
didn’t give us money. But I was embarrassed that they were announcing it over
the radio and in the pages of newspapers.
If you are doing something with
the family, first of all, we are the chief mourner, as well as Governor Rochas Okorocha,
but it would be proper that they confide in the family in whatever they were
planning to do in respect of the burial rites. If there is something we can
bring to the table to enhance it, then it would be to the credit of the
governor. But he didn’t do that and they were all shifty. We didn’t know what
they were planning, they didn’t care to know what we were planning.
·
Was it what informed
your action at the funeral service?
First of all, I am not a
church goer. I am a Buddhist, though I was born into the Catholic doctrine. And
part of my reason for not going to church is the fact that I have been to a lot
of churches. For the first 20 years of my life, I was a mass servant. I was an
‘altar boy’ because my father was a disciplinarian. If you don’t go to
morning mass, you are bound to be in trouble.
I did all that for 20 years, and that’s the kind of
background I was coming from. But things have changed regarding the mode of
worship in most churches. They spend more time than necessary. Why should we be
praying for two to three hours non-stop? I have other things to do. At
the funeral service, I was told that Mr. President’s representatives and other
dignitaries have arrived my home town.
Unfortuantely, one of my legs was
paining me, and that was why, if you were in church that day, I was sitting
down throughout. People didn’t understand why I was sitting down. I couldn’t
stand up for too long. Now, we have spent about two to three hours in the
church. We couldn’t afford to give all the politicians that attended the
funeral rites the opportunity to pay tribute to my late father. I felt the only
person who should deliver a speech was Mr. President’s representative.
At that point, I was so stressed and tired. All I
wanted was to commit my father’s remains into the mother earth. So, I insisted,
as the eldest son of Justice Oputa, I decide how things were going
to be done. At that point, I said please, no more talk, it’s too much, let one
person speak so we can go and finish the business. That was what happened but
you know people will misinterpret it. That is their business, not mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment