Talks About His Foundation For Men With Prostate
One of Naija’s most recognised voices consistently involved in the social re-engineering of the Nigerian state, an accomplished musician and entertainer and an acknowledged voice of the voiceless, Charly Boy Oputa aka Area Fada, has once again reiterated his desire to do everything within his power to help men who are down with Prostate Cancer. He has assured him he will help them find the medical solution they so desperately seek but can’t afford owing to the harsh economic realities.
Charly Boy, a Prostate Cancer survivor himself, has set up the Charly Boy Foundation to support men battling with prostate and help them procure surgery and treatment at heavily subsidised rates. The fearless and controversial entertainer, who was a guest on the popular ARISE Tv programme, PERSPECTIVES, hosted by Ruth Osime, insisted that once you take away a man’s ability to achieve erection and meet his sexual obligations, such man would prefer he is dead and buried than to remain alive and live with the shame and stigma that comes with his inability to perform…
The popular entertainer often referred to as the advocate of the masses appeared on the programme with Doris Udensi, a Pharmacist who also doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of the Charly Boy Foundation. This fiercely focused and extremely intelligent lady, along with Charly Boy, have been extremely busy in the last few months, trying to see how they can assist a substantial amount of men spread from across the country, procure treatment for their prostate ailment via the Charly Boy Foundation. Again, for the benefit of those who didn’t know about his Prostate cancer ordeal, Charly Boy shares a bit of his experience on the popular ARISE TV programme, PERSPECTIVES.
How did the doctor break the news to him at the time? He was asked.
“The doctor was quite gentle when he broke the news to me,” Charly Boy narrates. “He said I’m suspecting something but you know, let’s just be sure. So, after I went to do, I think my MRI and I brought it back to him, the next day, he said, okay, you need to go in, thank God we’re catching this early. I think it’s quite early but we need to create that space for you as soon as possible…It was a first stage of cancer and it was affecting my prostate. You know, the prostate has grown into my bladder, so it was difficult for me to pee. That was the first symptom. I was practically living in my bathroom because I was peeing a lot, and it was also difficult because I’d go to the bathroom and I kept waiting there for the pee to come. But most of the time it was just aching so much, you understand? And I was living my life in the bathroom. After a while, I even started to wear diapers, Pampers, because sometimes I will have a hyperactive bladder. That was why I had to go do the MRI….”
He encouraged men to go for check-ups as it’s only early detection that can help nip the prostate in the bud before it spreads and becomes a much more serious situation. “A lot of our men are too saddled with humongous responsibilities that they barely have time for themselves. This is why I always advice men, when you get to a certain age, you have to be a little selfish and focus more on yourself and your wellbeing. I am not in anyway saying you should abandon your family or your responsibilities to them, but focus a bit more on yourself because all our lives, we focus more on family and those around us. You must begin to pay attention to yourself when you get to a certain age,” he advised.
And he goes further to explain why he set up the Charly Boy Foundation. “Often, when the men go for check up and find that they have prostate and would need to raise funds to procure treatment, the first thing that comes to their mind is, me, wey I never chop, where will I get money to buy drugs, especially with the situation of things in the country today? And that is where the Charly Boy foundation comes in. Where, for instance, your treatment will cost you about 100k, we support with half of the cost. And where you cannot even afford anything, we see come in and see how we can help. But it is an enormous project. We need the support of Nigerians, well meaning Nigerians, the state government, everybody, to come support the Charly Boy foundation because I, alone, cannot do this. It has to be a collective venture. We have to save our men from this dreaded monster called Prostate, a lot of them are even too ashamed to come out publicly and say they can no longer get it up. And this is why we encourage regular check ups so that these things can be detected early.”
According to Charly Boy, a lot of men are suffering in silence because they have been brainwashed with the belief that men are not supposed to cry but man up and endure with dignity whatever it is they’re going through.
When asked by Ruth Osime what he thinks most men would do if they are asked to choose between getting rid of their testicles to enable them to live longer but unable to perform sexually or leave their testicles, enjoy sex but die in just a couple of years?
“A man would rather die than lose his most prized possession!” Charly Boy responded.
He advised men to come out and seek medical attention rather than bottling it all up and suffering in silence. Charly Boy, however, called on the general public to support the Charly Boy Foundation to enable it to support men with Prostate.
