Onyeka Onwenu
Onyeka Onwenu (born 31 January 1952 )
is a Nigerian
singer, songwriter, actress, journalist, politician, and X Factor
series judge. She
is the youngest daughter of the Nigerian educationist and politician D.K Onwenu.Dubbed the "Elegant Stallion" by the Nigerian press, she is a former
chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture, and
currently the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre
for Women Development.
Contents
Broadcasting
Onwenu possess a B.A.
in International Relations and Communication of the Wellesley
College of Massachusetts, USA, and a Masters Degree in Media Studies from The
New School for Social Research in New York. She worked for many years at
the United
Nations in New York before returning to Nigeria in 1980, where she
completed the mandatory one-year National Service, at the NTA where she made an impact as an
articulate, incisive and fearless reporter. In 1984, she wrote and presented
the internationally acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary called "Nigeria, A
Squandering of Riches" which became the definitive film about corruption
in Nigeria as
well as the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control and campaign
against environmental degradation in the oil rich region of Nigeria.She has also served on the board of the NTA.
Music
Onwenu began her music career in 1981 while still working with the NTA, releasing the album "For
the Love of You". Originally a secular artist, she now sings mainly gospel
music, and continues to write and sing about issues as Health (HIV/AIDS), peace
and mutual coexistence, respect for women rights and the plight of children.
Her latest effort titled “Inspiration for Change” focuses on the need for an
attitudinal turn around in Nigeria.
She is into partnership with Paris-based La Cave Musik, headed by Nigerian
cultural entrepreneur, Onyeka Nwelue and UK-based Jungle
Entertainment Ventures, headed by musicologist, David Evans-Uhegbu. La
Cave Musik is set to release her collection titled, Rebirth of a Legend
in November. In 2013, she was named as one of the three judges on the Nigerian
version of The X Factor.
Politics
A member of the People's Democratic Party,Onwenu was in the running to become Local Council Chairman of her native Ideato
North Local Government Area of Imo State,
but was appointed Chairperson of Imo State Council for Arts and Culture by
former governor Ikedi Ohakim. On September 16, 2013, President Goodluck
Jonathan appointed her the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of
the National Centre for Women Development.
Film
Onwenu has featured in numerous Nollywood
movies and in 2006 won the African Movie Academy Award for Best
Actress in a Supporting Role,
In 2014, she was in the movie Half of a Yellow Sun with Chiwetel
Ejiofor.
Filmography
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1999
Not Your Wealth
Conspiracy
with Nkem Owoh
Chain Reaction
with Pete Edochie & Liz Benson
2004
Government House
2005
Women's Cot
with Joke Silva & Zack Orji
- this film received 4 nominations and won 1 award at the 2nd Africa Movie Academy Awards
in 2006[10]
The Tyrant
with Pete Edochie
Omalinze
Queen
with Stephanie Okereke
Every Single Day
2006
Different World
with Ramsey Nouah
2007
To Love an Angel
with Ramsey Nouah
The Trinity
with Kanayo
O. Kanayo
2013
Odenigbo's Mother
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer.[2]
She has been called "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically
acclaimed young anglophone authors [that] is succeeding in attracting a
new generation of readers to African literature".
Year
Film
Role
Notes
1999
Not Your Wealth
Conspiracy
with Nkem Owoh
Chain Reaction
with Pete Edochie & Liz Benson
2004
Government House
2005
Women's Cot
with Joke Silva & Zack Orji
- this film received 4 nominations and won 1 award at the 2nd Africa Movie Academy Awards
in 2006[10]
The Tyrant
with Pete Edochie
Omalinze
Queen
with Stephanie Okereke
Every Single Day
2006
Different World
with Ramsey Nouah
2007
To Love an Angel
with Ramsey Nouah
The Trinity
with Kanayo
O. Kanayo
2013
Odenigbo's Mother
Personal life and education
Born in the city of Enugu, she grew up the fifth of six children in an Igbo family in the university town of Nsukka in southeastern Nigeria, where the University of Nigeria
is situated. While she was growing up, her father James Nwoye Adichie
was a professor of statistics at the university, and her mother Grace
Ifeoma was the university's first female registrar.[4] Her family's ancestral village is in Abba in Anambra State.[5]Adichie studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria for a year and a half. During this period, she edited The Compass, a magazine run by the university's Catholic medical students. At the age of 19, Adichie left Nigeria and moved to the United States for college. After studying communications and political science at Drexel University in Philadelphia, she transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University to live closer to her sister, who had a medical practice in Coventry. She received a bachelor's degree from Eastern, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2001.
In 2003, she completed a master's degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts degree in African studies from Yale University.
Adichie was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005–06 academic year. In 2008 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She has also been awarded a 2011–12 fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
Adichie, who is married, divides her time between Nigeria, where she teaches writing workshops, and the United States.[6]
Writing career
Adichie published a collection of poems in 1997 (Decisions) and a play (For Love of Biafra) in 1998. She was shortlisted in 2002 for the Caine Prize[7] for her short story "You in America".[8]In 2003, her story "That Harmattan Morning" was selected as joint winner of the BBC Short Story Awards, and she won the O. Henry prize for "The American Embassy". She also won the David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Center Award) and a 2007 Beyond Margins Award for her novel "Half of a Yellow Sun".[9]
Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), received wide critical acclaim; it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2005).
Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, named after the flag of the short-lived nation of Biafra, is set before and during the Biafran War. It was awarded the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. Half of a Yellow Sun has been adapted into a film of the same title directed by Biyi Bandele, starring BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor and BAFTA award-winner Thandie Newton, and was released in 2014.[10]
Her third book, The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), is a collection of short stories.
In 2010 she was listed among the authors of The New Yorker′s "20 Under 40" Fiction Issue.[11] Adichie's story, "Ceiling", was included in the 2011 edition of The Best American Short Stories.
In 2013 she published her third novel, Americanah which was selected by the New York Times as one of The 10 Best Books of 2013.[12]
In April 2014 she was named as one of 39 writers aged under 40[13] in the Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club project celebrating Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital 2014.[14]
Adichie says on feminism and writing, "I think of myself as a storyteller, but I would not mind at all if someone were to think of me as a feminist writer... I'm very feminist in the way I look at the world, and that worldview must somehow be part of my work."[15]
Lectures
Adichie spoke on "The Danger of a Single Story" for TED in 2009.[16] On 15 March 2012, she delivered the "Connecting Cultures" Commonwealth Lecture 2012 at the Guildhall, London.[17] Adichie also spoke on being a feminist for TEDxEuston in December 2012, with her speech entitled, "We should all be feminists".[18] This speech was sampled for the 2013 song "***Flawless" by American performer Beyoncé, where it attracted further attention."We should all be feminists"
"We should all be feminists" was a TED talk that was given by Adichie in 2012. She shared her experiences of being an African feminist, and her views on gender construction and sexuality. Adichie believes that the problem with gender is that it shapes who we are.[19]″I am angry. Gender as it functions today is a grave injustice. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about positive change, but in addition to being angry, I’m also hopeful because I believe deeply in the ability of human beings to make and remake themselves for the better." [20]
The talk was sampled in Beyoncé's song "Flawless" in December 2013. Different parts of the speech are featured.
Adichie commented about the featuring of her speech in "Flawless" in an interview with NPR.org. She believes it is great that the young generation starts talking about feminism.[21]
The use of Adichie's speech in the song has brought many critiques against Beyoncé calling herself a feminist. Adichie defended Beyoncé by asserting that people who say they are feminists are indeed feminists.[22]
Distinctions
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Caine Prize for African Writing | "You in America" | Nominated[A] |
| Commonwealth Short Story Competition | "The Tree in Grandma's Garden" | Nominated[B] | |
| BBC Short Story Competition | "That Harmattan Morning" | Won[C] | |
| 2002/2003 | David T. Wong International Short Story Prize (PEN American Center Award) | "Half of a Yellow Sun" | Won |
| 2003 | O. Henry Prize | "The American Embassy" | Won |
| 2004 | Hurston-Wright Legacy Award: Best Debut Fiction Category | Purple Hibiscus | Won |
| Orange Prize | Nominated[A] | ||
| Booker Prize | Nominated[D] | ||
| Young Adult Library Services Association Best Books for Young Adults Award | Nominated | ||
| 2004/2005 | John Llewellyn Rhys Prize | Nominated[A] | |
| 2005 | Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book (Africa) | Won | |
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book (overall) | Won | ||
| 2006 | National Book Critics Circle Award | Half of a Yellow Sun | Nominated |
| 2007 | British Book Awards: "Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year" category | Nominated | |
| James Tait Black Memorial Prize | Nominated | ||
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book (Africa) | Nominated[A] | ||
| Anisfield-Wolf Book Award: Fiction category | Won[C] | ||
| PEN Beyond Margins Award | Won[C] | ||
| Orange Broadband Prize: Fiction category | Won | ||
| 2008 | International Impac Dublin Award | Herself | Nominated |
| Reader's Digest Author of the Year Award | Won | ||
| Future Award, Nigeria: Young Person of the Year category[23] | Won | ||
| MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant (along with 24 other winners)[24] | Won | ||
| 2009 | International Nonino Prize[25] | Won | |
| Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award | The Thing Around Your Neck | Nominated[D] | |
| John Llewellyn Rhys Prize | Nominated[A] | ||
| 2010 | Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best Book (Africa) | Nominated[A] | |
| Dayton Literary Peace Prize | Nominated[B] | ||
| 2011 | ThisDay Awards: "New Champions for an Enduring Culture" category | Herself | Nominated |
| 2013 | Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize: Fiction category | Americanah | Won |
| National Book Critics Circle Award: Fiction category[26][27][28] | Won | ||
| 2014 | Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction[29] | Nominated[A] | |
| MTV Africa Music Awards 2014: Personality of the Year[30] | Herself | Nominated |
Other recognitions
- 2010 Listed among The New Yorker′s "20 Under 40"
- 2013 Listed among New York Times′ "Ten Best Books of 2013", for Americanah
- 2013 Listed among BBC's "Top Ten Books of 2013", for Americanah
- 2013 Foreign Policy magazine "Top Global Thinkers of 2013"[31]
- 2013 Listed among the New African′s "100 Most Influential Africans 2013"
- 2014 Listed among Africa39 project of 39 writers aged under 40
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