Ex-entertainment editor of the Punch Newspapers, Mr. Ladi Ayodeji speaks to Charles Okogene of charlesokogene.com on the passage of Onyeka Onwenu whom most of them held the ladder to climb to musical glory.
Happy reading.
At what point did you know Onyeka Onwenu?
I met Onyeka when I was still the labour reporter for the Punch newspaper; she was also a correspondent of the NTA. That was around 1980.
The following year, I was drafted to the entertainment desk, and Onyeka also left the NTA to start a music career.
Mr. Ladi Ayodeji
Tell us all you know about her starting from when Sonny Okosuns produced her album?
She got a recording contract with the EMI, and the company got Sonny Okosuns to produce her debut album, Endless Love, which was a commercial success.
Was Okosuns her first producer?
Yes, to the best of my knowledge.
As an entertainment writer those days, what was your relationship with her?
Well, nothing special. I treated all the artistes equally. However, because she was so combative, we had it rough a lot. We quarreled because of my gossip tit bits about her private life and, when my reviews of her albums weren’t as pleasant as she expected, she reacted negatively by throwing tantrums.
Onyeka was temperamental, oh my God!
However, we later worked together on a project after I left active journalism, and we both enjoyed it.
I was devastated by her death.
May God take her soul.Amen.
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