Charly Boy Responds After Obasanjo Calls Him Ashawo at London Event

(Former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Charlie Boy. Photo Credit: Charlie Boy)

Veteran entertainer Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has reacted after former President Olusegun Obasanjo jokingly called him an ashawo at the London launch of his memoir, 999.

Obasanjo was chief host of the September 29 event.

A video shows him teasing Charly Boy with names like thief, barawo, drug addict and ashawo.

The clip has been shared widely on social media, and some Nigerians have questioned why he used the word ashawo.

Charly Boy responded in a post online, on Friday.

He said Obasanjo did not mean that he runs a prostitution business, and that the remark came from their close and familiar bond.

He joked that people who live differently from everyone else get plenty of names, and that he has been called jaga-jaga boy, rebel, mad man and even a tortoise too smart for his own good.

According to him, Obasanjo has now added ashawo to the list.

He said that if Obasanjo can stand in public and call him names like a stubborn son, it is a sign of love.

He also recalled that the same Obasanjo has spoken about things he respects in him, especially the way he stood by his late father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, and later his mother.

Obasanjo has spoken warmly about Charly Boy before, once calling him a jagajaga boy while acknowledging the care he showed his late father.

He also wrote the foreword to the memoir and was chief host at its Nigerian launch before the project moved to London.

Charly Boy said he will accept the latest title as part of their long friendship.

He said it takes one to know one and that only someone close to your heart can feel free enough to tease you in public.

He ended by saying he hears Obasanjo but does not agree with the ashawo part.