Onyeka Onwenu, the ace vocalist whose lyrical and strong lyrics typically conveyed hope and positivity and garnered her global recognition and nickname ‘the graceful stallion’, passed away on Tuesday at 72 years old.
Onwenu died at Reddington Hospital in Lagos. The singer was believed to have fallen after performing at Stella Okoli’s 80th birthday party, the founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.
The vocalist was born on January 31, 1952, in Obosi, Anambra State. She was born in Arondizuogu, a small community in Imo’s Ideato North Local Government Area, but grew up in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
The youngest daughter of Nigerian educationist and politician Dickson Onwenu, who died in an accident when she was four years old in 1956, the singer and her four siblings were reared by their widowed mother, Hope Onwenu. Onyeka was the last of five siblings, and Hope lost her spouse at the age of 36.
Onwenu attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts in the 1970s and graduated with a BA in International Relations and Communications. She also held an MA in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research in New York, USA.
She worked for the United Nations as a tour guide before returning to Nigeria in 1980 to complete her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). She worked as a reporter and presenter for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Lagos, hosting the network’s series ‘Contact’ (1988) and ‘Who’s On?’ (1993).
In 1984, she created and presented the highly regarded BBC/NTA documentary ‘Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches’. Her work was adapted into a film exposing Nigerian corruption, the persistent Niger Delta movement for resource control, and a battle against environmental deterioration in Nigeria’s oil-rich region.
ONWENU’S CAREER IN MUSIC, FILM AND POLITICS
Onwenu debuted in the music industry in 1981. She recorded a pop album titled ‘For The Love Of You’ and later her sophomore album ‘Endless Life’, both produced by the late Sonny Okosun, on the EMI record label.
The singer also published other projects, including ‘In The Morning Light’, ‘Dancing In The Sun’, and her self-titled album ‘Onyeka!’. She released the popular song ‘One Love’ in 1986.
In a 2012 interview, the singer revealed that she did not single-handedly write ‘One Love. “It was written by Sean Paul Monique who is a renowned songwriter and producer. They were producing my album at that time and having listened to the songs I wrote, he now wrote something patterned exclusively for me and I added mine to it,” she said.
Another one of her popular songs ‘You and I’ was re-recorded for the 2001 film ‘Conspiracy’ starring actor Nkem Owoh and herself. Onwenu’s other notable works include ‘’Iyogogo’, ‘Falling in Love’, ‘Odenigbo’, ‘Ekwe’, ‘Alleluya’, ‘Madawolohun’, and ‘Wait For Me’ featuring Sunny Ade.
The secular vocalist made four albums before transitioning to gospel music in the 1990s. In 2013, she was a judge on the music television show X Factor Nigeria.
In 2000, Onwenu protested against her old company, NTA, for allegedly failing to pay royalties on her songs. She claimed that NTA 2 Channel 5 utilized ‘Iyogogo’ in station idents without permission. She went on a hunger strike outside the station after being blacklisted for transmission. The protest was called off after six days when Onwenu and NTA reached an agreement on her royalties.
In addition to music, Onwenu enjoyed a successful acting career. Her first major film role was in Zik Zulu Okafor’s ‘Nightmare’.
In 2006, she received the Africa Movie Academy Award for ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ for her work in ‘Widow’s Cot. That same year, she was nominated for the Africa Movie Academy Award for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for her performance in the film ‘Rising Moon’.
She appeared in hundreds of Nigerian films over the course of a decade, including ‘Chain Reaction’, ‘The Tyrant’, ‘Different World’, and ‘Omalinze’. Onwenu has lately acted in high-profile films including ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandiwe Newton, Genevieve Nnaji’s ‘Lion Heart’, and ‘Muna’ with Adesuwa Etomi and rapper Falz.
Before her death, Onwenu was a member of the People’s Democratic Party. She was the previous chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture. Onwenu was named executive director/CEO of the National Centre for Women Development by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.
She was also given national honors by the federal government in 2003 and 2011.
ONWENU’S ‘REGRET AS CELEBRITY’
In a 2019 interview, Onyeka shared that she almost stopped her music career owing to piracy and copyright concerns in Nigeria. She also criticized the then-federal government for allegedly failing to protect artists’ copyrights.
“I wanted to quit. How can you belong to a profession where you worked and worked and some people sat somewhere and reaped from your sweat? We sacrificed a lot as musicians and our works were pirated,” she said.
“Musicians deserve to be protected but that is not what is happening. We are not there yet. It is frustrating, the administration of copyright in Nigeria. Even at the moment, nothing is moving in the right direction. I wonder why the government is not doing anything to protect the copyright of artistes.
“… people are making money off someone’s work. I am in court with an agency that took my music and put it on the internet without my permission; making money and refusing to account. That is why I said, if I don’t do it for me, let me do it for the younger ones because many of them are unaware of their rights.”
OWENU’S LOVE FOR MARKET WOMEN
Onwenu had many talents, including singing, songwriter, acting, human rights and social activism, journalism, and politics. In a 2019 interview, the singer expressed a desire to be a market woman if she weren’t famous.
She also praised market women, saying they “support a significant portion of the country’s economy.”
“I have been asked that question in the past. I have great admiration for market women. The incredible thing that we don’t know is that they are holding up a large sector of the economy of this country. These women that sell tomatoes, pepper, onions; that is how they raise their children,” she said.
“That is how they train their children up to university level. That is how they hold their families together. I have a great admiration for them. So I probably would have been somewhere buying and selling like every other woman who is trying to survive. If I didn’t have education, it would still have been the same thing. I can buy and sell at all levels, considerably.”
ONWENU’S ‘TOXIC’ MARRIAGE TO A YORUBA MUSLIM
In 2020, Onwenu, who had always kept her personal life private, announced that she married a Yoruba Muslim man in 1984. In her book, ‘My Father’s Daughter,’ the movie star said that the union resulted in the birth of her two boys, Tijani and Abraham.
Onyeka stated that her marriage was “toxic” and left her “constantly depressed”. The singer expressed regret after the end of her marriage, stating that staying would have resulted in her untimely death.
“Unless it happens to you, you really don’t understand the sacrifices that women make. It’s about the love thing, it’s about the children as well. We want to preserve a home where there is a father and there is a unit,” Onwenu had said.
“But, if it’s going to take your life, get out fast, run! Because your children without you will suffer more. There were years where I was constantly depressed and my children noticed.
“I made a decision to fight for my happiness, my fulfillment, my joy and not wait for my husband to take care of me as he should. So, don’t wait to be killed.”
ONWENU’S BOND WITH FELA
In a 2021 interview, Onwenu said that Fela Kuti, the late Afrobeat musician, wanted to marry her. She claimed the musician “fell in love” with her and invited her to join his long line of spouses after an essay she wrote helped him get out of jail during the military era.
“When he was arrested for taking money out of the country, there was a decree that you don’t take money out of the country, and this is money he had earned from the tour he previously had, and he took, I think, about 1000 something pounds,” she said.
“He was caught with it, and he was arrested. He couldn’t meet up with his concert, and they arrested and jailed him. And I came up and said, ‘No, that’s wrong’.”
In her autobiography, Onwenu continued: “… 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.
“In hindsight, I realised 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’.”
Owenu also recalled how she declined Fela’s marriage proposal because she was a “possessive lover”.
“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,” she wrote.
“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.
“While I wanted to see him, I had noticed that his Queens—the euphemism for his numerous dancer-wives—had been looking at me with scorn. They passed by often, whispering comments about me. They were downright hostile and quite obvious about it.
“I pointed this out to Fela and told him that I was a possessive lover and would not be able to cope as an appendage to his harem. Fela laughed. He seemed to enjoy the idea that the women were ‘fighting’ to keep his affection. He did not persist with the marriage proposal, however.”
The actress who faced several challenges during her lifetime said “forgiveness” was the greatest lesson she learnt from life.
ONWENU’S LAST MOMENTS
Onwenu’s unexpected death sent shockwaves through Nigeria’s entertainment sector and the country as a whole. Several footage of the late diva performing her greatest hits shortly before her passing went popular on social media.
In the videos, the singer appeared to be in good health and spirits as she took the stage, excitedly singing and dancing to favorites like ‘One Love’ to the joy of the audience.
‘HOW I WANT TO BE BURIED’
In an editorial post published on TheCable on July 27, 2021, the ace vocalist expressed her preference for a quiet, humble, and speedy departure.
Onwenu asked her loved ones to “mourn, yes but not excessively”. She also mentioned that they “do it quickly, quietly and privately”.
“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,” it reads in part.
“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. That is me Onyeka Onwenu.”
Although the cause of her death remains unknown, Onwenu ultimately lived a life of impact and died doing one of the many things she loved to do. Singing.
