"My Songs Help Young Ladies Keep Their Virginity" - Onyeka Onwenu

 

As one of the foremost female singers, Onyeka Onwenu who is fondly called the Elegant Stallion by her fans has remained on top of her game till date.
Showtime Celebrity cornered her recently and she talked about how her song helped young girls retain their virginity, her delve into politics and lots more .


On her melodic voice, she said; " I use my voice to give God glory. When He knows where you are coming from, He will give you strength and He will also keep giving you ideas. You will continue to grow from strength to strength. That’s what I am all about."


On 'Wait for Me' duet with King Sunny Ade, she said, "It reminded of the good old days. That guy (Sunny Ade) has not really changed. We did the song when it wasn’t the usual thing for artistes to come together and collaborate. We had three songs altogether (two of them were on social issues) and we took time to promote them. It’s still on, unbelievable. And it’s a great thing to see young artistes who are flying the nation’s flag all over the world and they are still growing strong.

We did the song in the late 80s. We started with “Madalówun” which was in my album “ Dancing in the Sun” and then we were approached by the John Parkson University in the United States to promote family planning in Africa, so that African families would know how to space their children and also to encourage young girls to hold onto their virginity; to wait till that time when they are matured enough to deal with their sexual lives. The song made a huge impact because I remember that we toured the country. I went to schools where I was speaking to the young girls. Some of them walked up to me to thank me for helping them retain their virginity. The song did affect lives and I am very happy about that.

On the kind of songs Artistes sing these days: "Let’s give the young ones a break. I also sang a lot of love songs, love songs are good. But the only thing I’m worried about is this shaking..shaking ..shaking of a thing. It’s getting too much and I’m always wondering why it’s only the women who are ‘shaking’. let the men also go and shake their own so that we can see. But it’s a process and I’m happy, they are enjoying their young years."

On her acting career, "At a point, you delved into acting? Yes, I did and I’m loving it. My fans should expect more things from me although I have been working lately as an administrator. I am a politician and also a public administrator. I’m the Director-General , National Centre for Women Development. We have done all that. To God be the glory, anyone that comes along, I know that God wants me to use something, and I give my very best. But I never stopped singing and I wouldn’t stop acting as long as the good scripts come my way. "

On politics: "I never planned to go into politics, even though I was born into a political family. My father was the first Arondizuogu man to be in the House of Representative in the first Republic. He worked with people like Mazi Mbonu Ojike who was his best friend. That was my story. I’m the last child of my parents, but I never knew I would go into politics. What inspired my decision to go into politics was the need to help my people. I realized there is so much I could do for them. But as a politician, I can help to make laws or execute projects that will affect people’s lives. So, I just woke up one day and said, I’m vying for the local government chairmanship. I didn’t know it was going to work out. It started a political process for me. Who knows where it’s going to take me. But I’m proud of everything that I have done over the years.