Veteran Nigerian entertainer and activist, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has explained why he connected comedian and content creator Isbae U with former President Olusegun Obasanjo for an interview on the YouTube programme, Curiosity Made Me Ask.
Charly Boy disclosed this in a post on X on Monday while reflecting on Obasanjo’s appearance on the popular programme, which was hosted by Isbae U, whose real name is Adebayo Abidemi.
According to the veteran entertainer, the connection was motivated by his desire to encourage interactions between different generations and create opportunities for young Nigerians to engage prominent figures through new media platforms.
Obasanjo’s appearance on the programme, which aired on Saturday, September 19, has attracted considerable attention, partly because the former president is the first former Nigerian president to feature on the show.
The interview adopted the programme’s familiar informal and humorous format, with Isbae U asking the former president provocative and unconventional questions while Obasanjo responded with jokes, personal recollections and comments about Nigerian entertainment.
During the conversation, Obasanjo discussed several Nigerian entertainers he said he was unfamiliar with, including music executive Don Jazzy, dancer Poco Lee and content creator Carter Efe. He also turned the questions around by asking Isbae U about internationally recognised figures, including the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III.
One of the notable moments of the interview involved Charly Boy himself.
Obasanjo revealed that his initial perception of Charly Boy was negative, largely because of the entertainer’s unconventional appearance and lifestyle. He said he initially had little regard for him despite holding his father, the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, in high esteem.
However, Obasanjo said his opinion changed after visiting Justice Oputa and discovering that the late jurist was being cared for at Charly Boy’s residence.
The former president said he was impressed by the level of care Charly Boy provided for his father until his death and later for his mother.
According to Obasanjo, the experience made him reconsider his earlier perception of the entertainer. He also said Charly Boy later explained that his unusual public image was part of his strategy for making a living.
Obasanjo described Charly Boy as intelligent, saying maintaining such an unconventional persona as a livelihood required considerable creativity and intelligence.
The comments added another dimension to the viral interview, given Charly Boy’s role in facilitating the meeting between the former president and Isbae U.
Isbae U subsequently acknowledged Charly Boy for his support in making the interview possible. Reports on Monday said the programme had attracted more than one million views within its first 24 hours, with the figure continuing to rise as clips from the interview circulated online.
The interview has also generated discussions about the changing nature of political and public-figure interviews in Nigeria, particularly the growing influence of digital platforms.
Unlike traditional television interviews, Curiosity Made Me Ask relies heavily on comedy, satire and unconventional questioning. The appearance of a former president on such a platform therefore brought together Nigeria’s traditional political establishment and its rapidly expanding digital entertainment culture.
The development also highlights Charly Boy’s continuing connections within Nigeria’s entertainment and public affairs space, as well as the role of established personalities in creating links between younger content creators and influential figures.
For Isbae U, the Obasanjo interview represents another major moment for a programme that has built its audience around unconventional conversations with prominent Nigerians.
For Obasanjo, the appearance provided an opportunity to engage a younger digital audience in a setting markedly different from the formal interviews and political discussions associated with former presidents.
The viral response to the episode has further demonstrated the growing reach of Nigerian digital media and the willingness of prominent public figures to participate in alternative formats for reaching younger audiences.
