Onyeka Onwenu

Onyeka Onwenu is a Nigerian singer/songwriter, actress, human right activist, social activist, journalist, politician, and former X Factor series judge. Dubbed the "Elegant Stallion" by the Nigerian press, she is a former chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture. In 2013 she was appointed the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Centre for Women Development. In 1984, Onwenu wrote and presented the internationally acclaimed BBC/NTA documentary Nigeria, A Squandering of Riches which became the definitive film about corruption in Nigeria as well as the intractable Niger Delta agitation for resource control and campaign against environmental degradation in the oil-rich region of Nigeria.

A former member on the board of the NTA, she has also worked as a TV presenter, hosting the shows Contact (1988) and Who's On? (1993) both on NTA Network. She began her music career in 1981 while still working in NTA, releasing the album For the Love of You, a pop album which featured an orchestral cover of Johnny Nash's "Hold Me Tight", and her second album Endless Life was produced by Sonny Okosuns. Both records were released on the EMI label.

Onwenu first movie role was as Jumoke, a childless woman who adopts an abandoned baby in Zik Zulu Okafor's Nightmare. She has since featured in numerous Nollywood movies, and in 2006 she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, In 2014. She was in the movie Half of a Yellow Sun with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton, and Lion Heart.