Popular Nigerian actress and musician, Onyeka Onwenu has opened up on why she turned down renown Afrobeat Singer, Fela Kuti back in the 80’s.
According to the new memoir released by the mother of two sons, Fela proposed to her back then, but she turned his proposal down.
In the autobiography titled My Father’s Daughter, Onyeka, 69, stated that she eventually turned down his proposal after she visited him at his club and saw his other wives.
She maintained that when she loves, she loves deeply and struggled to understand Fela’s polygamous lifestyle.
Narrating how Fela proposed marriage, Onyeka wrote:
“The second time I saw Fela was in 1984, a few years after I had returned from the United States. He had just been released from jail.”
“He was arrested for attempting to travel with his band for a gig in London with the sum of 1,600 pounds for their hotel accommodation. At the time, carrying any amount of foreign currency was against one of the many decrees promulgated by the Buhari/Idiagbon military junta.”
“After he was released from prison, Fela sent a mutual friend, the journalist Onuorah Udenwa who is now a US-based pastor, to bring me to his club. I thought that he probably wanted to thank me for speaking up for him, but that was not it.”
Onyeka, whose two sons, Abraham and Tijani bear the last Ogunlende, said that she didn’t like the way some of Fela’s women were looking at her.
“They passed by often, whispering comments about me. They were downright hostile and quite obvious about it. I pointed this out to him and told him that I was a possessive lover and would not be able to cope as an appendage to his harem but Fela laughed.”
Not much is known about Onyeka’s personal life, especially who she married, or whether she is married to the father of her two sons.
