Onyeka Onwenu… How the rhythm stopped at 72

KSA, MCSN, Others Pay Tribute

Suddenly, the beat stopped at 72 for legendary singer, songwriter and actress, Onyeka Onwenu, popularly known as ‘The Elegant Stallion’, she reportedly died on Tuesday evening, July 30 at the Reddington Hospital, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The celebrated music icon was said to have slumped at the hospital where she was rushed to after falling ill during a performance at the birthday party of a friend, Mrs. Stella Okoli, Nigerian pharmacist, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceutical Company.

Born on January 31, 1952, in Obosi, Anambra State; she graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA, with degrees in International Relations and Communication. She also had a master’s degree in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research in New York.

Before getting into music, Onwenu worked as a journalist with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), where she was known for her investigative reporting, particularly on social topics. While at NTA, she authored the globally famous BBC/NTA documentary on corruption, Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches in 1984.

As a multifaceted artiste whose career spanned over four decades, she was not only a renowned singer and songwriter, she was also a politician. Her debut album, For the Love of You, released in 1981 had both English and Igbo songs, demonstrating her flexibility.

Her sophomore album In The Morning Light (1984) was released under the imprint of Polygram. Recorded in London, it featured the track Masterplan written by close friend, the late Tyna Onwudiwe, who had previously contributed to her BBC documentary – Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches – and subsequently sang back-up vocals on the album.

Reputed for her unique combination of traditional African music and contemporary pop, Onwenu’s music blended genres such as highlife, reggae, and pop, often addressing social and political issues. Some of her most popular songs include One Love, Iyogogo and Ekwe, all which were classics in the Nigerian music scene.

Her love for ballads and songs about women’s rights were a soothing balm during Nigeria’s rocky 1980s and this earned her the nickname ‘Elegant Stallion’. Her hit song, You and I, was repurposed for the 1999 movie, Conspiracy – which she also starred in – and is widely regarded as one of the most iconic soundtracks of Nollywood.

In 1987, she was one of the headline artistes that performed at the ‘Music Against Apartheid Tour’ in Southern Africa, which also had the late Sonny Okosun and Christy Essien-Igbokwe. The sold-out concert was held at Rufaro Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe.

And in 1989, she recorded the popular duet Choices, which centres on ‘consent and birth control’ with the juju maestro King Sunny Ade (KSA). The record, a stunningly bold move in Nigeria has remained largely conservative decades after.

In My Father’s Daughter, her 2021 memoir, Onwenu revealed that after Fela’s release, he asked her to marry him, a request she emphatically turned down, although with good humour. “I told him that I was a jealous lover and would not be able to cope as an appendage to his harem,” she wrote.

She garnered multiple honours for her work in music and advocacy. The best-known example of her tenacity was a three-day hunger strike at the premises of her former employer, the NTA, in July 2000.

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), she was protesting at being barred after complaining that the national channel was playing her music but not paying thousands of dollars in royalties it owed to her.

“People often described her as being something of a tough nut. I’ll say this: she was even harder on herself. She pushed herself hard and expected the same from others. She was more than a client; she was my big sister and heroine,” Ed Keazor, a lawyer and historian, who knew Onwenu for more than two decades and represented her in the mid-1990s

Before switching to become a gospel singer in the 1990s, the late music maverick released four albums before and was awarded national honours by Nigeria in 2003 and 2011. These include Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) and accolades at various music award ceremonies.

As actress, the late British-Nigerian film-maker, Biyi Bandele, cast her in the 2013 film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun. Five years later, she also starred in Lionheart, Nigeria’s first Netflix original, alongside Nkem Owoh, her co-star in Conspiracy.

In 2006 she won the Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) for ‘Best Actress in a Supporting Role’ for her performance in the movie Widow’s Cot. She was also nominated that same year for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ in the movie Rising Moon.

As a politician, Onwenu contested twice to become the Local Council Chairman of her Local Government, Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and lost at both attempts, but was appointed Chairperson of Imo State Council for Arts and Culture by former Governor Ikedi Ohakim.

On September 16, 2013, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan appointed her the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Women Development, FCT, Abuja.

In recognition of her contribution to music and arts in Nigeria, she was celebrated by professionals including Mahmood Ali-Balogun, Laolu Akins, Charles O’Tudor, and former PMAN president Tony Okoroji among others in the arts and creative industry.

Meanwhile, it has been rains of tributes for the departed Onwenu. For Azuh Arinze, chairman of Yes International Ventures, publishers of Yes! International Magazine, “The news of demise is numbing, shocking, sudden and sad; very, very sad and unexpected. We still spoke on Saturday, July 27. I never knew it would be our last conversation.”

According to the Director General/Chief Executive, the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria Ltd/Gte (MCSN), Mayowa Ayilaran, for and on behalf of the members, Board and Management of the CMO, the news of Onyeka Onwenu’s death came to “us at the Musical Copyright society Nigeria (MCSN) as a very rude shock and sad. Onyeka has since the 1980s been in the forefront of the struggle for a just, rewarding and enriching copyright system. She was on the side of MCSN when the Society faced life threatening challenges initiated and executed by those denying musicians their rightful income through the exploitation of their works.

Onyeka was there in the forefront of MCSN’s struggle when it took its concern to the then Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Professor Jerry Gana, in 1994; she was always attending court sessions in defence of MCSN cases, stressing the necessity for musicians whose rights are involved to be seen with the Society to let the court appreciate the more the enormity of the struggle.

“She was there with MCSN at the National Assembly before the House Committee on Trade and Commerce in 2006; she was there and spoke gallantly at the public hearing on copyright by the Joint House of Representatives’ Joint Committees on Justice, Judiciary and Human Rights of the 9th National Assembly. She stood for justice!”

“She personally staged a sit-out and hunger strike at the Nigerian Television Authority defending her copyright and those of others who were being flagrantly infringed by the mighty NTA, even up till today.

“Onyeka will never brook any shady deal from any quarter or body, no matter how close she may appear to be with that person. She would also not shy away from admitting and apologising for any mistake or perceived wrong she might have made,” Ayilaran said.

The ‘Elegant Stallion’ had a brush with MCSN, when she was made to believe that MCSN leadership was not doing things the proper way. She took it upon herself to personally confront, write and publish her belief about certain individual leaders of MCSN and went ahead to resign her membership and directorship of the society.

Some years down the line, she discovered the truth about the lies she was made to believe about MCSN and its Management. What did Onyeka do? She personally called Orits Williki and Mayo Ayilaran and apologised to them face-to-face and in extension, to MCSN Management about the error in judgment, which she was led to make.

“She didn’t end there; she admonished us not to get weary or discouraged as she was sure that victory was just around the corner. That very same year, true to her prophesy, MCSN got a break! This reinforced in our mind that Onyeka walked and lived in the Holy Spirit.

“She, of cause, later fully returned to MCSN. Not for what she can personally benefit, but for what every musician should benefit. Her WhatsApp message to me on February 26, 2024 read thus: “… I understand that we are still fighting a battle and that these short notices serve a purpose. Hopefully at some point, we would not need to worry about this. Let us continue to work hard, make progress and make sure that distribution is being done and musicians and right owners are benefitting, no matter how small. You are doing well. Godspeed!”

Ayilaran continued, “I also want to recall a not-too-distant memory when King Sunny Ade was to be succeeded as the Chairman of MCSN; Onyeka was offered and asked to step in as the Chairperson, but she declined, giving up the position to Orits Williki!

“I, and the entire team at MCSN are consoled by the fact and reason that we have bountiful good memories of Onyeka.

In his tribute, King Sunny Ade said: “With deep shock and utmost bewilderment, I hereby express sincere condolences at the instance of the loss of a compatriot in music; our beloved ‘Elegant Stallion’ Onyeka Onwenu, whose passage was announced after the fulfilment of a lifetime passion and a race that was ran successfully with all her might.

“May the Almighty God grant the repose of her gentle soul and also the grace to be part of the ‘Angelic Voices’ in Paradise. May God grant her immediate family and the music family that she left behind the fortitude to bear this great loss.”