Chude Jideonwo Pays Tribute To Late Singer Onyeka Onwenu

Chude Jideonwo, a media personality, has paid tribute to the late singer, composer, and actress, Onyeka Onwenu.

In an Instagram post, he confessed that he had spent the entire day crying like a baby because he was still startled, stunned, and flabbergasted by the news of her death. Chude Jideonwo stated he couldn’t recall the last time his heart broke that deeply. In his own words:

“Aunty…

I have spent the whole of the day crying like a baby.

I am still shocked.

I am still stunned.

I am speechless.

I cannot remember the last time my heart broke this hard”.

In another lengthy post, he described his memories with the deceased and how he was obsessed with her. Chude claimed that he first discovered Onyeka Onwenu while in secondary school.

According to him, he discovered her not through her songs ‘One Love’ or ‘Dancing in the Sun’, but through ‘Greatest Love’, which he still considers the most beautiful song he has ever heard.


The media celebrity went on to say that he watched her in a music video expressing her story of finding Christ and finding peace, and something about the woman on the pulpit made him fall in love.

Chude Jideonwo stated that he fell blindly, wildly, and lavishly in love with her. He revealed that he loved her so much that he bought all of her tapes, begged his aunties to take him to every concert, and watched any interview he could find of her.

He met her when he co-produced New Dawn with Funmi Iyanda in 2002, and she was one of the first people he invited. He stated that, though she wasn’t particularly friendly, she was polite and professional, which he loved. Chude continued:

“I was in secondary school when I discovered Onyeka Onwenu.

I didn’t discover her from ‘One Love’ or ‘Dancing in the Sun’, which my parents, like everyone else across Nigeria, loved. Even Ekwe, over which my father and I often bonded, came later.

No, I discovered her with ‘Greatest Love’, which I still consider to be the most beautiful song I ever heard. I saw her in the music video telling the testimony of finding Christ and finding peace, and something about the woman on the pulpit made me fall in love.

I fell hopelessly, recklessly, abundantly in love with her. I was obsessed with her. I bought every tape of hers, begged my aunties to take me to every concert, I watched every interview I could find. I adored her.

I was besotted.

When I became the producer of New Dawn with Funmi Iyanda in 2002, she was, of course, one of the first guests I invited. She wasn’t warm, but as always, she was polite and professional. I didn’t care. To just be talking to her on the phone was a dream come true.

When she arrived at the studio in NTA Tejuoso, used to huge egos, I asked her: ‘How should I address you, ma?’ She said, ‘Just call me Onyeka Onwenu’. Even the way she said it sounded like music.

It is one the greatest honours of my life that I called Onyeka Onwenu aunty, and she saw me as one of hers. It was a great honour to be in her presence, to see her smile, to see her dance, to have her lean on me literally and figuratively, to send and receive gifts from her, to hear her sing, to dine with her, to gaze at her, to watch her live.

To watch her glide through the world, luminous as she was despite Nigeria’s many attempts to kill her light.

I loved her. I love her. I was obsessed with her.

Besotted.

I could never stop loving her”.

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