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Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called her a "versatile and
extremely gifted artiste who applied herself to the whole gamut
of artistic enterprise and expression, bringing joy and laughter
to many."
Onwenu's career spanned music, film, journalism and politics.
Nicknamed "the elegant stallion" in a media profile - a label
that stuck, Onwenu came to prominence in the early 1980s with
her television documentary, "Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches"
which she wrote and presented while working for Nigeria's state
television.
The documentary explored citizen's growing frustrations with the
civilian government shortly before the 1983 coup and became a
definitive documentation of Nigeria's post-independence economy
and politics.
In the same decade she began to record albums as a singer, and
for years her soulful voice would continue to be a radio staple,
especially singles like "One Love", "You and I" and her duet
with Sunny Ade, pioneer of the Juju genre.
(Reporting by Ope Adetayo; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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