Onyeka Onwenu The elegant stallion

Onyeka OnwenuShe is a woman of many parts; she has excelled as a broadcaster, singer, actress and later a politician. Onyeka Onwenu rightly earned her nickname, the elegant stallion, writes Monica Taiwo.

KNOWN as “the elegant stallion” to friends and sundry, Onyeka Onwenu is a woman of many parts.

She started her career at The Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) as a broadcaster. She later went into singing and afterwards featured in some Nollywood home movies. Her antecedents really credit to her nickname, ‘the elegant stallion” because this is a pointer to her go-getter spirit.

Onyeka Onwenu has always won the admiration of many Nigerians since her musical hit, One love, stormed music market in the 80s. This album also added to her “logo”, as her name is synonymous with love all the time.

This elegant stallion is a woman of so many parts rolled into one. A broadcaster, singer, actress, and politician. Onyeka has been passionate about stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, and this prompted her in conjunction with other notable female artistes to release an album in support of the anti-HIV/AIDS campaign.

Unlike some female stars, Onyeka has been able to keep her private life and family from the public glare. Rumour mongers branded so many tales about the paternity of her sons. This, however, did not make her change her stand in keeping her private life private.

As a mother, she has passion for her boys, part from the motherly instinct her love for her dad has influenced this as she has been quoted in many press interviews that she loved her sons the way she loved her father who died when she was very young.

Her father’s death, which left her mother a widow very early in life, could have been one of the reasons why she acted the role of a widow in one of her home videos, a role she acted so well. It takes one who either must have experienced widowhood or must have been close to a widow to act it that well. Her mother’s experience must have influenced her.

She ventured into politics because of her love for her people. Losing the local government chairmanship of Ideato North Local Government election in 2003, was however, not a daunting experience as she is a firm believer of the fact that there are lessons to be learnt from mistakes and failures and she will surely try again. No quitting for the stallion!

She is a firm believer in women empowerment; she also believes in the fact that women should be given a chance in every sphere of life politics included.

She has applauded the present female participation in politics, but she believes that there is still room for improvement to meet the recommendation of the Beijin conference on women.