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Nigerian singer, actor and activist Onyeka Onwenu dies aged 72
Nicknamed the ‘Elegant Stallion’, the revered star died after performing at a private party in Lagos
Onyeka Onwenu, the singer, actor, broadcaster and activist whose love ballads and songs about women’s rights were a soothing balm during Nigeria’s rocky 1980s and earned her the nickname “Elegant Stallion”, has died at 72. A contemporary of the jùjú maestro King Sunny Adé, they recorded the popular 1989 duet Choices, about consent and birth control, a stunningly bold move in a country that remains largely conservative decades later. The British-Nigerian film-maker Biyi Bandele cast her as grandmother to the twins Olanna and Kainene in the 2013 film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun.
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