Quintessential woman of the arts, Onyeka Onwenu, departed this earth plane on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, doing as her passion and vocation dictated: entertaining guests at the birthday party of another icon eight years her senior. Seventy-two-year-old Ms Onwenu left huge footprints in music, theatre, activism, women’s empowerment, and politics. She made her mark first by deploying words and visuals as a broadcast journalist.
Onyeka Onwenu (1952-2024) followed the timeless counsel of philosopher Francis Bacon, 1561-1626. Bacon famously stated, “Reading makes a full man, conversation a ready man, and writing an exact man.” She became the exact woman who followed the public relations injunction in the Media Relations Playbook (2024): tell your story.
As a public figure, Nollywood star and musician Onyeka responded to and clarified the varied narratives about her life and person by writing a book.
Read also: In Memoriam: Seven songs that will keep Onyeka Onwenu alive forever
Onyeka Onwenu (2021), My Father’s Daughter, told her story in her words. Publicists said My Father’s Daughter is a riveting narration of Onyeka Onwenus enthralling journey through life. We are held captive as she takes us into her world – from the heart-warming affection of her father to living through the anguish of the Nigeria-Biafra war, from her remarkable mother’s love to family intrigues, from feminism to a career that has put her in the limelight for decades. Her reflections and reviews are expressive and stroke our senses; nothing is left out. This book is deeply personal and emotional; it is about strength of purpose in the face of adversity, the struggle to overcome seething obstacles and the tenacity in surviving the odds. Exciting and vibrant, Onyeka’s story is laced with wit, and the underlying humour is infectious.
BusinessDay offers a second review of My Father’s Daughter in the Executive Bookshelf section on Sunday.
My Father’s Daughter and its first-person account will feature in narratives about the life of the rounded artist alongside her works in music and film as tribute flow. I wrote a tribute two years ago to celebrate Ms Onwenu as she clocked the Biblical three score and ten.
She was 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, excelled in Nigerian media, arts, and entertainment. She also advocated 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 my most poignant memories 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 even with this recollection.
Onyeka Onwenu was born on 31 January 1952. She was a singer/songwriter, actress, human rights activist, social activist, journalist, politician, and former judge on the X Factor serie.
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 was chair of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture and, from 2013, and 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. A former member of the board of the NTA, she also worked as a TV presenter hosting the shows Contact (1988) and Who’s On? (1993), both on the NTA Network, her Wikipedia entry notes.
Read also: Onyeka Onwenu dies at 72
Onyeka graduated with a 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 primarily for music. Her contributions are outstanding.
Hear Wikipedia again: “Originally a secular artist, Onwenu transitioned 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’s 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 featuring an orchestral cover of Johnny Nash’s “Hold Me Tight”. Sonny Okosun produced her second album Endless Life. 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 backup 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 switched to Benson and Hedges Music in 1992 and released the self-titled Onyeka!, her only album with the label. After that, she transitioned to Christian/gospel music. Her latest collection, “Inspiration for Change,” focused on the need for attitudinal change in Nigeria.
She collaborated 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 was 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.
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 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 the 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.
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. Do you remember “Iyogogo,” which reminds you of village life? Or her praise song to mothers, “Ochie Dike?” Her collaboration with Phyno on Ochie Dike refreshed it and made it contemporary.
Friend, which Onyeka Onwenu song or performance is your favourite?
Thank you for Onyeka Onwenu in our lifetime. Now we must say
Goodbye, Ada Nnaya, Ada Igbo, Ada Nigeria.
