Veteran Nigerian entertainer, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has described the controversial renaming of a prominent Lagos bus stop after his name as a distraction.
News360 Info reports that the Bariga Local Council Development Area recently replaced “Charly Boy Bus Stop” with “Olamide Badoo Bus Stop,” honouring the popular rapper cum music executive.
The development has since sparked outrage among many Nigerians and political elites.
However, in an interview on ARISE Television on Tuesday, the political activist criticised the move as politically motivated and a distraction from Nigeria’s pressing challenges.
He said, “This is more of a distraction. We’re not facing what we should face in the times of today. Whether you like it or not, the race for 2027 has already begun.
“The name Charlie Boy Bus Stop had been in common use for decades due to Oputa’s deep ties to the Bariga and Gbagada communities, where he lived and carried out charitable works between 1989 and 2006. He provided scholarships, donated motorcycles to okada riders, and supported elderly pensioners contributions that earned him widespread grassroots support and the naming honour by popular consensus.
“They started calling it Charlie Boy Bus Stop because I lived in the bus stop, it became popular.”
Charley Boy also questioned why politicians attempt to divide Nigerians along ethnic and political lines.
He queried, “Why is it that whenever politics is at play, they try to pitch us against each other? Because we let them do that to us. How can the worst of us lead the best of us?”
