Ogbonnaya Onu Receives 2015 Quintessence Award

Onu

 

The African Writers Endowment (AWE) has announced that Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the former governor of the old Abia State, has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Quintessence Leadership Award. The award, which is the preeminent Pan-African Leadership Award in North America, will be presented this year on Saturday, September 12, 2015, at the Newark Airport Hilton Hotel in New Jersey, starting with a VIP reception at 7 p.m.

In a letter sent to Dr. Onu in the month of May, the Executive Director of AWE, Dr. Ugorji O. Ugorji, told the politician that his (Onu’s) “accomplishments as the pioneering elected Governor of God’s Own State, Abia, Nigeria, combine with your now triumphant legacy as one of the most principled and most abiding opposition leaders of Nigeria from 1999 to 2015 to make you a deserving choice for the award in 2015.” Dr. Ugorji went on to say that Dr. Onu’s particular skills as a writer and published intellectual in several genres also commend and endear him to the community of African writers.

 

In addition to the award, over 200 African writers and intellectuals will celebrate Dr. Onu’s published works and poems as part of the activities for the weekend.

 

The Quintessence Award is given each year as part of Quintessence Conference and Ball: A Celebration of African People in World History. The award is presented to at least one continental African leader and at least one African American leader, "for distinguished accomplishments in the person's field of endeavour, and for outstanding contributions to the history and heritage of African people."

Recipients of the award in the past have included Professor Chinua Achebe, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Lisa Jackson (President Obama’s former EPA Director), Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Congressman Donald Payne, Professor Ngugi wa-Thiongo, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Mr. Gill Noble, Secretary of State Lona Hooks, Professor Toyin Falola, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, Ambassador Joe Keshi, and Professor Molefi Kete Asante, to mention a few.

The award is usually accompanied by resolutions from the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey General Assembly in honour of the recipients. The event is sponsored each year by Sungai Books, and is hosted by the African Writers Endowment, Inc. (AWE) a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Black writers (see www.Talldrums.com). In the past 14 years, AWE has raised funds to support the publication of several books by African writers globally. While AWE’s works and events may have political implications, Princeton, New Jersey based organization is non-partisan.

 

The AWE has also asked Dr. Onu to consider preparing and delivering a keynote speech on the topic of his experience of opposition politics and its accomplishments in Nigeria. A former presidential nominee of the All Peoples Party in 1999 (which became the All Nigerian Peoples Party) Dr. Onu maintained an uncommon fidelity to his progressive principles. He later became the Chairman of the ANPP, the largest opposition party in Nigeria at the time and in 2013 he readily surrendered his coveted position in a merger between his party and other parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). In 2015 the APC went on to make history by defeating an incumbent president, which has led to the swearing in of Muhammadu Buhari as President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Nigeria.

 

In a telephone conversation with Dr. Ugorji on May 26, 2015, Dr. Onu accepted the invitation in principle. He has, however, asked for events and activities in the new Buhari government to settle before he sends a formal letter of acceptance of the proposed date.

 

The Quintessence Conference and Awards have been supported over the years by Western Union, Good Works International, Zumunta-USA, Nigerians in the Diaspora Organization (NIDO), World Igbo Congress, Egbe Omo Yoruba, the New Jersey State Government, various municipalities in New Jersey, and Lean Forward Nigeria (see www.LeanForwardNigeria.com). The event will be televised on several television stations in the US and in Nigeria. It will also be aired as a series on Tall Drums documentaries on www.TallDrums.com.