By Abiola Olawale
A former federal lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has recounted how the first civilian governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu’s chance of being the President of Nigeria was frustrated by the military in 1999.
Sani, a former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th assembly, revealed that Onu stood a chance of winning the 1999 presidential election but the military preferred former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who later went on to win the election.
The New Diplomat reports that Onu, the immediate-past Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and the former national chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), died on Thursday.
It would be recalled that in 1999, Onu was the presidential flag bearer for the All People’s Party (APP) but relinquished the position to Olu Falae after a merger of his party with the Alliance for Democracy(AD). Falae eventually lost the presidential election to Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Reacting, Sani while paying tribute to the former minister, said Onu could have been Nigeria’s President in 1999 after he won the APP primaries in Kaduna, attended by the likes of the late Ikemba of Nnewi Chief Ojukwu.
He explained that the military wanted the presidency at that time to go to the South West, hence the reason Onu was hand-tied to drop his ambition for Olu Falae who hails from Akure, Ondo State.
Sani said: “He was deliberately displaced after a midnight merger with the then AD. The military wanted Obasanjo and Falae.
“The late Chief Onu is one of Nigeria’s most distinguished, decent, and disciplined political figures in history.
“He has been an influential figure in Nigeria’s politics for over four decades. A Senator in the second republic, a Governor in the third republic, and a presidential candidate, party chairman, and minister in the fourth republic.
“He is a rare breed politician who lived as unstained, untainted, and unblemished as his white apparel. He was a man who lived and served his country with decorum and impactful anonymity.
“He was a true patriot whose nationalist credentials can’t be faulted by any section of the country. Onu was an unnoticed and unappreciated gentleman and national leader. In words and deeds, he lived above politics of rancor and controversy.
“In 1999, the outgoing military wanted power to shift to the South West. Onu was a simple man.
“His known residence in Asokoro remains the one rented for him by his party, the ANPP when he was elected its chairman. He remained there throughout his tenure as minister.
May his soul rest in peace.”
The New Diplomat reports that Onu was born on 1 December 1951 at Amata, Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of the Eastern region, later Imo State, then Abia State, and now Ebonyi State Nigeria. He was the first civilian governor of Abia State between January 1992 and November 1993.
Onu had the shortest reign as a civilian governor in Abia. His reign was less than two years before the then-military dictator Gen. Sani Abacha overthrew the civilian administration.
He was the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Nigeria from November 2015 until his resignation in 2022.
Onu contested in the APC presidential primary in 2022 and scored one vote.
Ogbonnaya was a 1976 First Class graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
He obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1980 from the University of California, Berkeley.
Onu was a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt and later became the pioneer head of the department.
Ogbonnaya also served as the acting dean of the Faculty of Engineering and was also elected as a member of the Governing Council of the university.
In 1999, he was the presidential flag bearer for the All People’s Party but relinquished the position to Olu Falae after a merger of his party with the Alliance for Democracy who lost to Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP.
Onu was the national party chairman of the All Nigerian People’s Party in 2010.
In 2013, he and his party (ANPP) successfully merged with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Democratic People’s Party (DPP) and some members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).
