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Tag: ONYEKA ONWENU

  • As Onyeka Onwenu attains the Biblical 70 years

    As Onyeka Onwenu attains the Biblical 70 years

    By Chido Nwakanma

    Congratulations to Onyeka Onwenu on attaining the Biblical three score and ten. More than congratulations, however, I write to thank Onyeka Onwenu for happening in our lifetime. It has been 42 years since Onyeka Onwenu burst into our lives on vinyl and tube.

    She is the investigative reporter at the Nigerian Television Authority that reported on “A Squandering of Riches”. It traced the paths of the wastage of Nigeria’s resources in the oil fields and boardrooms. The squandering of our riches is still the story.

    Onyeka Onwenu, daughter of Nigeria and Igboland, has played excellently on the Nigerian media, arts, and entertainment stages. She has been an advocate for women’s rights and served in politics and government.

    She lit up Nollywood with excellent performances in various roles and films. She valiantly lost to patriarchy and dirt as she sought grassroots political office.

    One of the most poignant memories I have of Onyeka Onwenu happened in 1987. I was the young Regional Correspondent for THISWEEK magazine in Port Harcourt. Onyeka the performer dazzled at the Civic Centre. Then she performed her all-time best “One Love”.

    The hall bubbled and bubbled. People left their seats. It was standing room only.

    I still feel the energy and love in that hall.

    All of us on social media are celebrating her ahead of her actual birth date. Understandably.

    Onyeka Onwenu was born on 31 January 1952. She is a singer/songwriter, actress, human rights activist, social activist, journalist, politician, and former X Factor series judge.

    The Nigerian press used the oxymoron Elegant Stallion to describe her. It resonated because of her attributes of strength, elegance and seeming male qualities.

    Onyeka served as chair of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture and from 2013 as Executive Director/CEO of the National Centre for Women Development.

    As an employee of the NTA, Onwenu made an impact as a newsreader and reporter. In 1984, she wrote and presented the internationally acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary Nigeria, A Squandering of Riches which became the definitive film about corruption in Nigeria as well as the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control and campaign against environmental degradation in the oil rich region of Nigeria.[11] A former member on the board of the NTA, she has also worked as a TV presenter, hosting the shows Contact (1988) and Who’s On? (1993) both on NTA Network, her Wikipedia entry notes.

    Onyeka graduated with BA in International Relations and Communication from the Ivy-League Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and obtained an MA in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research, New York. She worked for the United Nations as a tour guide before returning to Nigeria in 1980 to complete her mandatory one-year national service with the NTA.

    Nigerians know her mostly for music. Her contributions are outstanding.

    Hear Wikipedia, again: “Originally a secular artist, Onwenu made the transition to gospel music in the 90s, and most of her songs are self-penned. She continues to write and sing about issues such as health (HIV/AIDS), peace and mutual coexistence, respect for women rights, and the plight of children. She began her music career in 1981 while still working with the NTA, releasing the album For the Love of You, a pop album that featured an orchestral cover of Johnny Nash’s “Hold Me Tight”, and her second album Endless Life was produced by Sonny Okosun. Both records were released on the EMI label.

    Onwenu’s first album with Polygram, In The Morning Light, was released in 1984. Recorded in London, it featured the track “Masterplan” written by close friend Tyna Onwudiwe who had previously contributed to Onwenu’s BBC documentary and subsequently sang back-up vocals on the album. After her fourth release, 1986’s One Love which contained an updated version of the song “(In the) Morning Light, Onwenu collaborated with veteran jùjú artist Sunny Ade on the track “Madawolohun (Let Them Say)” which appeared in 1988’s Dancing In The Sun. This was the first of three songs the pair worked on together; the other two – “Choices” and “Wait For Me” – centred on family planning, and were endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria who used “Choices” in their PSA. Onwenu’s final release on Polygram was dedicated to Winnie Mandela, the subject of a song of the same name which Onwenu performed live when Nelson Mandela and his wife visited Nigeria in 1990 following his release from prison.

    Onwenu diverted to Benson and Hedges Music in 1992 and released the self-titled Onyeka!, her only album with the label, after which she made the transition to Christian/gospel music. Her latest collection, “Inspiration for Change,” focused on the need for an attitudinal change in Nigeria.

    She is in partnership with Paris-based La Cave Musik, headed by a Nigerian cultural entrepreneur, Onyeka Nwelue and a UK-based Jungle Entertainment Ventures, headed by musicologist David Evans-Uhegbu. La Cave Musik is set to release her collection titled “Rebirth of a Legend”. In recognition of her contribution to music and arts in Nigeria, she has been celebrated by professionals like Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Laolu Akins, Charles O’Tudor, and former PMAN president Tony Okoroji among others in the arts industry in Nigeria.[16]

    In 2013, Onwenu served as one of the three judges on X Factor Nigeria.”

    Onyeka owes no one, neither Ekwe nor any other.

    She is also a Nollywood personality. Note that a personality has passed the level of a star! “Onwenu’s first movie role was as Joke, a childless woman who adopts an abandoned baby in Zik Zulu Okafor’s Nightmare. She has since featured in numerous Nollywood movies, and in 2006 she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the movie “Widow’s Cot”. She was also nominated that same year for African Movie Academy Award for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” in the movie “Rising Moon”. She was in the movie Half of a Yellow Sun with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandiwe Newton, and Lion Heart (2018).”

    Her musical corpus is rich and variegated.

    Which Onyeka Onwenu song touched you the most? Which one moves you even now?

    “You and 1” was the entry song for my wedding reception. I loved it that much. I stood my ground when someone on the High Table tried to change the flow I had arranged as an event planner. It caused a stir but then stirred everyone to rise and dance You and I with my partner and I. Memories.

    Then there is Ekwe. My friend Chukwuma Nwokoh loved its insouciance yet calmness in our undergraduate days. Chukwuma says now: “My favourite Onyeka song is “You and I”. Ekwe is next. Loved and infatuated on her the first time I saw her picture because of her low cut then.”

    I also consider “Bia Nulu” evergreen. Bia Nulu marked her passage into gospel music. She then sang “Alleluya” in that genre. Do you remember “Iyogogo” that reminds me of village life? Or her praise song to mothers, “Ochie Dike”? Her collabo with Phyno on Ochie Dike refreshed it and made it contemporary.

    Friend, which Onyeka Onwenu song or performance is your favourite? It is her 70th, so tell her.

    Thank you for Onyeka Onwenu in our lifetime.

  • People swore that I had a daughter for Sunny Ade- Onyeka Onwenu

    People swore that I had a daughter for Sunny Ade- Onyeka Onwenu

    Lovers of ever green music will not forget ‘Wait for me’ the popular collaboration, veteran musician, Onyeka Onwenu had with the revered King Sunny Ade years back. As a result of the chemistry the veteran musicians portrayed in the song, many believed the duo would have had a romantic relationship together.

    In an interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo, Onwenu stated that many people even swore that she had a daughter for the Juju music crooner.

    “Sunny Ade is my colleague, my respected colleague, we did songs together. It took me years to live it down. I think it was at his 70th birthday celebration that people realized that this people were just working, doing good work together. Some people swore that we had a daughter. I wish I had a daughter. I have two boys, I raised three boys. Yes I wanted a girl, I never had a girl. If I had a girl won’t you have seen her or known her? But it comes with the territory. Sometimes, you have to look at it as a compliment.

    “At one point, one magazine linked me with four men at the same time. People want to sell their newspapers. This was rampant in the 80s and the 90s.It brought down a lot of female musicians. It brought them down, they left the scene, and they never came back. I refuse that it will bring me down. I took on some of the stories. I went to court, I won. I won the cases. I went to court because my mother is usually the one that tells me to ignore them. But she said, ‘if you don’t go to court, I am going.’ So I took that person to court and I won. They never paid up, but it wasn’t about the money”.

    Speaking further, the ‘One Love’ singer added that in showbiz, every publicity is good publicity.

    “I like to tell people that in show business, every publicity is good publicity. It was good publicity for me, it wasn’t that good but I made it into something good”.

     

  • I was accused of sleeping with Sunny Ade, Fela, Obasanjo -Onyeka Onwenu

    I was accused of sleeping with Sunny Ade, Fela, Obasanjo -Onyeka Onwenu

    Veteran musician, Onyeka Onwenu popularly called elegant stallion in a recent interview, shed light about rumours about her having a secret marriage with former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Onwenu in an interview with popular media personality, Chude Jideonwo, said the accusations that she slept with Obasanjo and had a secret marriage with the former President are false.

    Speaking further, Onwenu noted that she was accused while growing up of sleeping with many big men in Nigeria.

    The veteran singer said: “I was accused of sleeping with Sunny Ade, Fela and Obasanjo.

    “They even went to the extent of saying I got married to Obasanjo secretly. If he approached me to marry him, why would I keep it a secret? We would have made it public so that was funny.”

    Asked about what marriage to her ex-husband was like, the ‘One love ‘crooner said:” The marriage was incredible, it was incredibly beautiful, it was passionate. We were friends. We were the sort of friends who could stay in the house for a month without stepping out and we were pre-occupied, reading (the) newspaper, doing whatever. He was a very good friend.

    “But sometimes when things happen to people they changed and sometimes, instead of taking it out on the people who have caused the problem, it’s expedient to take it out on the closest people to you, that happened. Why did I take it for so long? Because I loved him and I loved my children and my children loved their father. So you make sacrifices because of the family. But there comes a time when you have to say, I’ve done enough of the sacrificing and if you really care about the children, you save yourself, because it could have killed me, it could have killed me. So, you save yourself.

    “I was going down and then, my brother comes in.

    “It took my brother calling me aside one day to say ‘you’re losing yourself.”

  • Obi Cubana mum’s lavish burial against Igbo culture -Onyeka Onwenu

    Obi Cubana mum’s lavish burial against Igbo culture -Onyeka Onwenu

    Revered songstress and public affairs commentator, Onyeka Onwenu has slammed Obi Cubana, a popular Abuja-based business mogul, for organizing a lavish burial in honour of his mother.

    The burial, which was held in Afor Uzo Oba, Anambra state over a week ago, has also continued to provoke diverse reactions.

    In her latest article, the ‘One love’ crooner described the burial as “obscene and insensitive.”

    “The point I make here is that there are different strokes for different folks, even within a family. I do not condemn anyone for how they mourn, with their own hard-earned money but I am very uncomfortable with the lavish display of wealth on any occasion, especially in a time of hardship and lack for most others,” she wrote.

    “The burial of Obi Cubana’s mother was not only lavish, it was obscene and insensitive. It sent all the wrong signals at a time when Nigeria is wracked with widespread poverty and lack.

    “I condemn it all. It does not reflect the Igbo culture that I grew up in. Ndigbo would not condone the conspicuous display of wealth. If you were found doing that, your close and extended family, your community would send a delegation to you, to ask about your source of the wealth you are throwing about. You would be ostracized if you had no convincing evidence of legitimate work.”

    Onwenu also slammed those criticizing the entire southeast region because of the entrepreneur’s action, adding that such indicates the deep-seated hatred for the Igbo.

    “…what I find equally deplorable in this whole debate, is the strenuous effort to tag the people of the Southeast, Ndigbo, with all manner of negative attributes because Obi Cubana is Igbo,” she added.

    “This is not surprising. It has always been the case. When there is unexplainable hatred, some people are bound to give a dog a bad name so that they can justify hanging it.”

    The music star also revealed that she had already informed her family not to throw such an extravagant funeral for her when she passes away.

    “I told a friend just days before the most outrageous burial of Innyom Ezinne Uche Iyiegbu in Oba, Anambra State in July that I had given my family instructions as to how to bury me when my time comes,” she added.

    “Do it quickly, quietly and privately. Celebrate me with prayers, lunch or dinner afterwards. Share some jokes about me and laugh. Mourn, yes but not excessively.

    “Make merriment and then go about your business. If my friends want to celebrate me, they should do so while I am alive so that I can enjoy it with them, not when I am gone and have no idea.”

  • Withdraw troops from South-East, dialogue with Igbos – Onyeka Onwenu

    Withdraw troops from South-East, dialogue with Igbos – Onyeka Onwenu

    Revered Nigerian songstress, Onyeka Onwenu has told President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw troops deployed to the South East.

    She urged Buhari to rather dialogue with secessionist agitators and youths in the region to stop killings.

    Onwenu made this known while speaking at a press conference organized by the Credible Igbo Women Initiative, CIWI in Lagos.

    She said, “Something dreadful is happening in south east right now. I happened to come from Imo state and I know what people are passing through there. Please, federal government should stop the killings

    “Some people want to agitate for referendum, it is their right. Some people want to cry out that they are being marginalized, it is their right. Listen to them. You may not agree with them, but they have the right to speak.”

    Onwenu who is also fondly called elegant stallion appealed to the Nigerian government to talk to aggrieved parties and youths in the South East region, adding that Igbo people had the right to agitate.

    “We are begging, we are asking, please let us sit down and talk about what is going on. Let’s call our people who are agitating, who are not happy with the situation and talk to them. Nigerian government let’s talk. Pull out the troops from Igboland,” she stated.

    Onwenu also urged the youths to embrace dialogue with the government.

    “I also want to use this opportunity to reach out to our young people to embrace dialogue. Please, come let’s talk. We will stand for the right of Igbo people”, Onwenu pleaded.

  • My venture into politics did open doors of opportunities-Onyeka Onwenu

    My venture into politics did open doors of opportunities-Onyeka Onwenu

    Onyeka Onwenu, an ace singer and actress, says her venture into politics opened doors of opportunities for her.

    Onwenu who is fondly called the elegant stallion made this known in her memoir ‘My Father’s Daughter’.

    The activist notes that politics is the largest industry in Nigeria, adding that her political campaigns were self-funded.

    “Politics is the largest industry in Nigeria. For the majority, it is a succulent gravy train that guarantees return on investment. There are people who are in it , not to serve but to feather their nest. They are the political mercenaries whose desperation for the returns of power can cause them to shed blood to achieve their aim.My political campaigns for the two consecutive attempts I made were self-funded.

    “If you have not played politics at the local level, you have not played politics.It is the rawest form of it and it comes with deceit, lies and treachery.I found that some of my closest campaign staff were eating with the enemy, my opponents.In politics, I have had to use my skills as a singer/songwriter to connect better with constituents

    “Interestingly, I quickly discovered that in politics, anything goes.You can lie, cheat, steal, blackmail, denigrate and assassinate the character of others, all in the name of politics. It is infact accepted as a natural fallout and that even if offended by it, you had a duty to let it go”.

    Onwenu also states that when she ventured into the murky waters of politics, God didn’t tell her she will succeed.

    “When I made my decision to run for office at the age of 50, I had reached an internal resolution with my God as to how I would pursue the political dreams he gave me.A covenant was made and God has been faithful. After eight years of trying unsuccessfully in the political field, I went back to ask if I had heard from him correctly, after all I believed He had told me to go into it. I came to the realization that He hadn’t actually told me that I would succeed, however my venture into local politics did open doors of opportunities for me”.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Fela wanted to marry me-Onyeka Onwenu

    Fela wanted to marry me-Onyeka Onwenu

    In her engaging autobiography titled My Father’s Daughter, Onyeka Onwenu fondly called the elegant stallion made some revelations about her relationship with the late Afrobeat music icon, Fela Kuti.

    On how she met Fela, the ‘One love’ crooner writes: ”I had just turned into Falolu Street in Surulere when a car pulled up behind me. Seated in it was Fela. He was pleasant and introduced himself, while inviting me to his nightclub that evening. I knew that I was not going to honour the invitation, but it was rather flattering to be invited all the same.

    “The second time I encountered Fela was in 1984, a few years after I had returned from the United States. He had just been released from jail. Fela had been arrested for attempting to travel with his band for a gig in London with the sum of 1,600 pounds for their hotel accommodation. Carrying any amount of foreign currency was against one of the many decrees promulgated by the Buhari/Idiagbon military junta. Meanwhile, just days later a certain traditional ruler was allowed into the country with 53 suitcases, allegedly stuffed with the currency. The implications were many and I made these known in an opinion piece which was published in The Vanguard newspapers”.

     

    Recounting how Fela proposed marriage to her, she says: “In hindsight, I realise that the government could have had me arrested for being so critical. It was not a tolerant regime at all. I do recall, however, that Brigadier General Idiagbon, the second-in-command, had commented that the government would accept criticism from people like Onyeka Onwenu because ‘that woman loves Nigeria.’ I was touched and I longed to meet him but never did. His premature death in 1999 was a shock to me.

    In any case, after Fela was released from prison he sent a mutual friend, the journalist Onuorah Udenwa who is now a US-based pastor, to bring me to his club. I thought that he probably wanted to thank me for speaking up for him, but that was not it. He never even mentioned the article I had written in solidarity with him. Fela wanted to marry me, and I was flattered. I reminded him of the first time we met at Falolu Street and his invitation to visit his club. I thanked him for the honour of wanting me to become his consort, but I turned him down all the same”.

     

  • Female artistes worth more than shaking bum- Onyeka Onwenu

    Female artistes worth more than shaking bum- Onyeka Onwenu

    Veteran musician, Onyeka Onwenu fondly called the elegant stallion is a woman of many parts.

    From being a singer, actress, politician and journalist, Onwenu has her hands in many pies.

    In a recent virtual interview, the ‘One Love’ crooner urged female artistes to do more than shaking their bums and work towards becoming legacy artistes.

    “Be careful of what you live for posterity. If you can’t give your best, don’t step out because what you recorded is always going to be there for long, so you got to give it the very best. Center your artistry around something that will last with meaning, not just shaking bumbum and it’s just the women that are always shaking it, the men don’t shake anything. Women are worth more than shaking their bumbum. Enough of the bumbum”.

    Asked if her family supported her when she got married to a Yoruba Muslim, she said: “Not at all. My family kind of knew that I am an independent-minded person. I will do whatever I wanted to do in terms of whomever I fell in love with. He was a Muslim before we got married and there was no objection to that. My children are proudly Yoruba and Igbo, so if you say something bad about the two tribes, they’ll query you and that is the attitude we should all have”.

     

  • Nigeria‘s unity is not negotiable – Onyeka Onwenu

    Nigeria‘s unity is not negotiable – Onyeka Onwenu

    Veteran Nigerian songstress, Onyeka Onwenu has warned that Nigeria is fast approaching a precipice

    She urged leaders to work towards keeping the country together, especially for the younger ones, adding that the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable.

    Onwenu said this on Thursday during the virtual presentation of her memoir, “My Father’s Daughter”.

    Acccording to her, Nigeria had always been on the precipice, but God had been holding the country together.

    According to her, “We cannot leave Nigeria worse than what we met.

    “Every single one of us has a role to play.

    “We all have a sphere of influence even a small child has a sphere of influence.

    “Within that sphere of influence, what can we do to make the best better for the next person?

     

     

    “What can you do for yourself, Nigeria and for your neighbour? You can do something.”

    She warned all leaders to exercise caution in order to thwart the present descent into precipice.

     

  • I married a Yoruba Muslim in 1984– Onyeka Onwenu

    I married a Yoruba Muslim in 1984– Onyeka Onwenu

    Onyeka Onwenu, veteran singer and actress, has opened up on her matrimonial relationship, revealing that she got married to a Yoruba Muslim in 1984.

    The mother of two children, who had always kept her cherished life private, brought this exposé to light in ‘My Father’s Daughter’, her memoir, which will be released on October 1.

    In the autobiography, the 68-year-old entertainer revealed how they fell in love more than decades ago and how the union brought about the birth of her two sons — Tijani and Ibrahim.

    “In this book, I am, perhaps for the very first time, setting the records straight with respect to my connubial relationship. Yes, I was married. I married a man I fell in love with in 1984,” she said.

    “We have two children: Tijani and Ibrahim. (Ibrahim later changed the first letter of his name from I to A, and thus became Abraham.) My husband is Yoruba, and was a Muslim when we met.”

    In 1984, Onwenu wrote and presented the internationally acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary Nigeria, A Squandering of Riches which became the definitive film about corruption in Nigeria as well as the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control and campaign against environmental degradation in the oil rich region of Nigeria.A former member on the board of the NTA, she has also worked as a TV presenter, hosting the shows Contact (1988) and Who’s On? (1993) both on NTA Network.

    Onwenu’s first album with Polygram, In The Morning Light, was released in 1984. Recorded in London, it featured the track “Masterplan” written by close friend Tyna Onwudiwe who had previously contributed to Onwenu’s BBC documentary and subsequently sang back-up vocals on the album. After her fourth release, 1986’s One Love which contained an updated version of the song “(In the) Morning Light, Onwenu collaborated with veteran jùjú artist Sunny Ade on the track “Madawolohun (Let Them Say)” which appeared in 1988’s Dancing In The Sun.