ONYEKA ONWENU: The Fearless Journalist & Musical Icon Who Refused to Marry Fela Anikulapo-Kuti
While some regard her as the Tiwa Savage of the 80s and 90s, others say she is much more.
From “refusing” to marry the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti to her fearlessness as a journalist, Onyeka Onwenu embodied the strength and sagacity of the Nigerian woman.
Sadly, the musical maestro whose voice lifted souls and inspired hope passed away at 72 on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024, in Lagos.
According to reports, she died at the Reddington Hospital after slumping during Mrs. Stella Okoli’s birthday celebration.
Many Nigerians say the veteran songstress will be remembered for her many timeless imprints in journalism, social activism, politics, and music albums such as In the Morning Light and Dancing in the Sun.
In 2021, she wrote a critical piece on Obi Cubana’s lavish burial of his mother. The piece was an expression of what she termed an obscene and insensitive display of wealth in a time of hardship and lack for most others.
‘The Elegant Stallion’
Onyeka Onwenu, a Nigerian singer/songwriter, actress, human rights and social activist, journalist, politician, and former X Factor series judge, was born on January 31, 1952, in Obosi, Anambra State. She was also dubbed the “Elegant Stallion” by the Nigerian press.
Onwenu, the youngest daughter of D.K. Onwenu, a Nigerian educationist and politician who died in an auto-crash a week before he was appointed Minister for Education, grew up in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, despite her original origins in Arondizuogu, a sprawling town in Ideato North, Imo State.
Following the death of her father, Onwenu’s widowed mother swiftly assumed responsibility for her future Nigerian icon, along with her four other siblings. Notedly, Onwenu’s stoic spirit became quickly planted in those rough and tough times, making her an advocate of social justice. Her endurance streak, forged in those formative years, would later transform her life into an all-round colossus.
‘Naija To Yankee’
Onyeka bagged a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and communication from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and a Master of Arts degree in media studies from the New School for Social Research, New York.
While in the US, she once worked as a tour guide for the United Nations before returning to Nigeria in 1980 to complete her mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), in Lagos, Nigeria. As an NTA employee, Onwenu’s 1984 searing and critically acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary titled Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches quickly opened different cans of corruption.
The piece also spoke boldly and glaringly about the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control, sparking heated debate about the perennial environmental degradation in Nigeria’s oil-rich region. Her musical career also followed a similar trajectory, with themes and issues of peace and mutual coexistence, respect for women’s rights, plights of children, and health (HIV/AIDS) emerging at the forefront of her songs.
Tribute
“As a journalist, musician, and politician,” Senator Ojudu Babafemi, a former presidential aide, wrote in a tribute to Onyeka Onwenu on Facebook, “she was a beacon of truth and a voice for the voiceless.” He added that her gripping documentary, Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches, which powerfully called attention to societal ills, captured the hearts and minds of Nigerians. He said her life will continue to inspire future generations.
