Onyeka Onwenu’s Sons Tijani, Abraham Ogunlende, Shine as Artists

On Aug 5, 2024

The late Nigerian singer Onyeka Onwenu’s legacy lives on through her sons, Tijani and Abraham Ogunlende, who have both made their marks as accomplished artists.

Onyeka Onwenu’s sons, Tijani Ogunlende and Abraham Ogunlende (formerly Ibrahim), also known as Abe Ogunlende, are outstanding artists who consistently showcase their exceptional skills and talent in their respective fields.

Tijani Charles Ogunlende is a multifaceted artist, designer, developer, and photographer, specializing in visual arts, graphic design, and web development.

He is also the sole owner of TijaniOgunlende, an independent company specializing in graphic design and art photography.

Before founding his company, Tijani Charles worked as a web developer at KRT Marketing and as a social media researcher at Clear Essence Cosmetics.

He also has a Bachelor’s in Visual Arts degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a New Media degree from the Academy of Art Univeristy.

Onyeka’s second son, Abraham, aka Abe Ogunlede, is a Nigerian contemporary artist who creates pastels and aesthetic, simple art that combines connections between society and personhood.

She was the youngest daughter among the five children of Nigerian teacher and politician D.K. Onwenu. She was raised in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.

She is the youngest daughter of Nigerian educationist and politician D.K Onwenu. However, it is painful to know that Onyeka never grew up to know her father because he passed away in a car crash when she was just 4-years-old.

Onwenu’s father passed away a week before he was to be named the Minister of Education under the Governor-General, Sir John Macpherson.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Communication from Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and a Master of Arts in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research, New York.

Onyeka worked as a Nigerian Television Authority newsreader and reporter and wrote and presented the famous BBC/NTA documentary “Nigeria: A Squandering of Riches.” She also presented and hosted the shows “Contact” and “Who’s On?” on the NTA network.

She also made her appearance in several Nollywood movies, including Window’s Cot, Half of a Yellow Sun and Lion Heart, Rising Moon, and Government House.

Initially, Onyeka kept her unhappy marriage life a secret. Still, she began to talk about her husband when she reached 70. She opened up about her failed marriage life and how she raised her sons as a single mother without the support of their father.

Many people know very little about Onyeka Onwenu’s marital life while some don’t know that she got married to Muslim Yoruba man, whose last name is Ogunlende.

Moreover, in an interview, the singer said that she didn’t want her marriage to end with her ex-husband, but staying in the marriage would have killed her because it was difficult and made her suffer from depression.

She also said that her husband didn’t pay their sons’ school fees or buy them clothes, and she didn’t even gave her housekeeping money. The environment they were living in was not suitable for the children, so she decided to carry the weight of the whole family.

Onyeka also mentioned that she raised her sons from kindergarten through to their master’s degrees without any support from her husband. Additionally, she won two African Movie Academy Awards in 2006.