Onyeka Onwenu, veteran Nigerian singer, actor and author says staying unhappily married would have killed her. Onwenu, who recently clocked 70 in a
Onyeka Onwenu, veteran Nigerian singer, actor and author says staying unhappily married would have killed her.
Onwenu, who recently clocked 70 in an interview, spoke of her relationship.
The singer said she did not want her marriage to end. She, however, added that staying in the marriage would have killed her because it was difficult for her.
“I went through it, it was difficult because I really didn’t want my marriage to end but I couldn’t take it anymore, it would have killed me,” she said.
“I always say that that is the truth and it was not good for the children to live in that kind of environment where the mother is depressed, the mother is carrying the weight of the whole family.
“I raised my children from kindergarten to master’s degree. My husband didn’t pay school fees for one day, didn’t buy clothes, didn’t pay for holidays, didn’t give me housekeeping money.
“But he was a nice and kind and generous man and basically, there was control where if you didn’t do the things he wanted, ‘well I’m not going to help you, I’m not going to give you money’.
“I would like to say this to Nigerians, any man who has children has a family and decides not to take care of them, you’ll have to answer to God.”
Onwenu is the mother of two children, named Tijani Charles and Ibrahim.
In September 2020, she had opened up on how she got married to a Yoruba Muslim in 1984.
