Like the early dew, which moistens blooming bougainvillea, veteran singer Onyeka, Onwenu ornamented Nigeria’s high society with uncharacteristic verve and aplomb, no doubt. Yes, if she were a cassowary on the plains of Timbuktu, Onyeka would flex her wattles like she is the last of the Casuarius breed in the world. Onyeka, a very close friend of Dame Patience Jonathan and her husband, former President Goodluck Jonathan, is in the news again.
Nigerians were not surprised some months ago when the ageless songstress, Onyeka appeared on a breakfast show to lampoon the detractors of the then First Lady especially the Nobel Laureate. She said Professor Soyinka had no right to refer to Dame Jonathan as ‘that woman’, an act she describes unbecoming of a man of Soyinka’s stature and the office of the First Lady of Nigeria.
You couldn’t have forgotten so soon how Onyeka and the veteran actress, Patience Ozokwor fought over the loot lavishly disbursed by former President Goodluck Jonathan while he campaigned for a second term in office.
Even though Jonathan failed to achieve his dream, Onwenu and Ozokwor have refused to sheath their swords. There is no gainsaying Jonathan's reelection bid caused bad blood between the two elder artistes as Onwenu and Ozokwor go for broke even as you read. The genesis of the conflict according to sources close to the duo, can be traced to Onwenu's overbearing and self-serving quest to be in control of the largesse generously disbursed to entertainers in the country by Jonathan in his quest to earn their endorsement and support; Onwenu reportedly made it her business to have entertainers in the country channel their request to see Jonathan or participate in his campaign through her. For an actor or musician to go around Onwenu to see Jonathan, his or her connection in Aso Rock Villa had to be very strong according to The Capital findings.
Thus when Onwenu discovered that fellow actress, Ozokwor, had gone round her to see the president and earn his patronage, she was miffed. Onwenu desperately issued an order that Ozokwor should revert to her, but order was contemptuously scorned and flung back in her face. This allegedly stunned Onwenu and incited her wrath; sources in Aso Rock Villa revealed that it severely cut her to size and made her seem like a paper goddess desperately seeking for relevance and respect.
The rift between the two women aggravated during deliberations over who the choice of administrator of the mobilisation fund disbursed by President Jonathan to woo top and influential entertainers in the country. At one of the meetings, Onwenu and Ozokwor allegedly lunged at each other, cursing and hauling vitriol openly at each other. It took the intervention of Dame Patience Jonathan to calm the fighting women. Although they were forced to stop the quarrel out of respect for the then outgoing Nigerian first lady, Onwenu and Ozokwor has since continued their cold war.
The greyhound stands by its master, the hunter, through thick and thin, and the Cheshire cat snuggles and purrs by its mistress, through the darkest spells. Mere animals earnestly show such incontrovertible loyalty and love to their owners. It is only man that is innately capable of such grisly display of contempt and infidelity to his fellow man. This brings to mind, the scandalous desertion of President Goodluck Jonathan, by men and women who were until recently, his closest friends, political associates, court jesters and confidants. Now, Goodluck Jonathan is an ordinary Nigerian. His phones are no longer buzzing like high-pitched alarums. There is no retinue of aides , special advisers, lobbyists and powerbrokers at his beck and call. Jonathan is no longer the quintessential or circumstantial love object of the entertainers, especially Onyeka.
Moreover, the pall of paltriness recedes and for the second time, fortune knocks at the doors of Onyeka. She is desperately courting the new President Buhari in her efforts to penetrate the new government. The pictures of her chance meeting with the President have gone viral on the blogosphere. No doubt, Onyeka is back on the hustling trail but the rules of engagement have changed.
Curiously, entertainers are not the only ludicrous and somewhat puerile gang of high society urchins in Nigeria, politicians and businessmen are part of them.
By Femi Ajayi
Credit - The Capital NG
No comments:
Post a Comment