Veteran Nigerian singer, Onyeka Onwenu, has said that feminism to her means courage, complementing and respecting each gender.
The music star who recently launched her memoir My Father’s Daughter, spoke in an interview with The Nation.
Explaining what feminism and girl-child rights means to her, she said:
“Feminism, that word that we are so scared of? It is not a bad thing, it is a good thing. It means, as a woman, I’m not going to apologize. I’m not going to be the second rate. I’m not going to take the backseat because I’m a woman and I ought to be seen and not be heard.
“I always say when I die and go to heaven to meet my God and He asks: ‘Onyeka, why did you not achieve things I told you to go and do.’ I’d say, ‘Papa, the men didn’t let me.’ I can’t give that excuse. What I am saying is that it doesn’t mean that I am better than the man. It doesn’t say that we must all be doing the same things because we have our different strengths and weakness but we must complement and respect one and other.
“Guess what, I have boys and I don’t have girls but I have many daughters out there. What I always tell them is – be yourself, be your best and don’t let anybody push you down and do not push down anybody, either.”
On her new memoir
When asked if her new memoir addresses some of the challenges the female gender faces; Onyeka Onwenu replied in the affirmative. She added that the book describes her journeys as a woman.
“Yes. ‘My Father’s Daughter’ address the issues facing the girl-child. Hoping that a lot of young ladies would read this book and learn some coping measures they can take for themselves.
“Basically, I come out of this, not apologising for being a woman – a strong woman, a successful woman, a forward-looking woman. I want every girl-child to know that they created for a purpose. Yes, you are going to face challenges, this is the society we find ourselves in, but you’re going to surmount and survive them to make good with the purpose of your life.
“It is a book of stories, my experiences with challenges that I had to face and it doesn’t glamorise anybody’s life,” she said.
“It just says this is what I went through. These are the lessons that I learned and maybe you can learn not to make the mistakes that I made. The book doesn’t paint me having a perfect life or having all the answers but it says this my stories. It’s very deep. Though, it might not be a perfect book because I am not a perfect person, no one is.”
