n the past couple of months, leading Nigerian cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, known as Bobrisky, has been one of the top items trending on Google search, more or less, to prove he is now something of a celebrity. If he has learnt anything by this, it will be, that, with fame comes some pain. But as fragile as this acclaimed Africa’s male barbie is, he’s meeting all his troubles half-way and shrugging them off.
When the news went viral last week, that a doctor had certified him HIV positive, the Ogun State-born cosmetics maker responded, not only by debunking the story but went as far as obtaining a test report that gave him a clean slate. Not satisfied with just the report, he posted it on social media for the whole world to see. In a telephone chat with Potpourri, the furious Bobrisky said many people had asked him to sue the pen-happy blogger, saying he wouldn’t understand why some people love to pull other people down.
“People don’t understand what blogging entails. Some people will wake up one morning to begin blogging about people. There should be rules and guidelines governing every profession. That guy that posted that false news doesn’t know what he has just put himself into. I am sure he will never come out of it, if I really go after him. I will put myself to a test and post the result on line. So people will know that I am HIV Positive. If I had charged him to court, I know some people will come out to say I am wicked. I have been advised to pick his case up but I won’t do it. I know he needs to survive but that doesn’t mean he should drag another person’s reputation in the mud. The story has gone viral and I am really sick about it. I am HIV Negative and I don’t know where this is coming from,” he said with a pained voice. So many people have been on to the feminine personality, accusing him of being gay, a transgender and what have you and he has consistently insisted he’s just a cosmetic seller, doing his business differently. “People fail to understand that I am only using what I have to get what I need. I am only doing something to make myself different from many others who are into this same business of mine just to get people’s attention. And thank God, now I have more customers than you can imagine. I am a millionaire,” he told Potpourri. So, how rich is Bobrisky, we asked. “At least I have been counting millions, so, I can say I am a millionaire but I want to get to the trillion stage. One case of my cream is N100,000 and in a week I can sell between 8 – 10 or more. Doesn’t that make me a millionaire?”