Ogbonnaya Onu CON was a popular Nigerian politician, author, and engineer; he was born on 1 December 1951 in Ohaozara, Ebonyi State, Nigeria before his death in April 2024. He was the first civilian governor of Abia State, and also the minister of science, technology, and innovation of Nigeria from November 2015 before he resigned in 2022.
In this article, I will let you know all the necessary information about him, especially his biography, career, and more about him.
Wiki
Full Name: Ogbonnaya Onu
Date of birth: 1 December 1951 Ohaozara, Southern Region, Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now in Ebonyi State, Nigeria)
Date of Death: 11 April 2024 (aged 72) Abuja, Nigeria
Political Party: All Progressives Congress
Alma mater: University of Lagos
University of California, Berkeley
Profession: Politician, engineer
Position: Former Governor of Abia State, January 1992 – November 1993
Biography
Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu was born on 1st December 1951 in Ohaozara, Southern Region, Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (now in Ebonyi State, Nigeria) to the family His Royal Highness, Late Eze David Aba Onu, Eze Adu of Uburu.
Education
Ogbonnaya Onu attended Izzi High School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State where he obtained grade 1 with distinction in the West African School Certificate examination.
Likewise, Ogbonnaya Onu has distinctions in Physics and Chemistry at the Higher School Certificate examination at the College of Immaculate Conception, CIC, Enugu, which allows him to graduate as the best overall student.
Ogbonnaya Onu graduated with a first-class honors degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Lagos in 1976.
Ogbonnaya Onu went on to bag his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, California, USA, in 1980.
Ogbonnaya Onu works on coal liquefaction and the production of synthetic fuels under mild conditions. It was able to prove that it is possible to produce synthetic fuels under mild conditions comparable with crude oil.
When he was at the University of California, Berkeley, Ogbonnaya Onu was the President of the African Students Union; a Member of, the Graduate Assembly of the University of California at Berkeley, and President of the Nigerian Association of Northern California, Inc.
Career
As they came back to Nigeria, Ogbonnaya Onu served as President General of his alma mater, Izzi High School, Abakaliki, Old Boys Association.
He taught at a seminary and the University of Port Harcourt as the pioneer Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
At an early stage of the Faculty of Engineering and the first Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Ogbonnaya Onu helped nurture the department from scratch to a position of repute and also worked with others to provide leadership in its search for excellence.
In 1991, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu was elected the first Governor of the old Abia State. He was the first Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Elected Governors.
As the Governor of Abia State, Ogbonnaya Onu emphasized the use of technology as an important instrument for national development by starting the processes for the establishment of a Technology Village and using computers in public schools.
Using the Abia Dream as a philosophy to mobilize the people of the State to achieve excellence in all spheres of human endeavor,
He established the Abia State Polytechnic at Aba and the College of Technical Education in Arochukwu and attracted the Michael Okpara Federal University of Agriculture at Umudike, near Umuahia.
He founded the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State as well as the National Ambassador Newspapers.
In 1999, Ogbonnaya Onu emerged as the first Presidential Flagbearer of the then All Peoples Party, APP, which was later known as the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP. He remained in the party from its inception in 1998 until it merged into a new political party in 2013.
In September 2010, Ogbonnaya Onu was elected the National Chairman of ANPP.
He started discussions with the leadership of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on how all the major opposition political parties could work together to effect change in the politics of the country.
Later he also initiated meetings with the National Chairman of all major opposition political parties. His efforts and others resulted in the merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressive Change, (CPC), and groups from the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), and the Democratic People’s Party (DPP).
On July 31, 2013, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was born. Dr Onu and other party leaders willingly gave up their positions as INEC withdrew the registration of ACN, ANPP, and CPC.
Ogbonnaya Onu was appointed Minister of Science and Technology by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and was reappointed in 2019.
Ogbonnaya Onu later resigned from his position to contest in the APC presidential primary losing out to the eventual winner of the general election, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Net Worth
At the moment of writing this article, there is no information about Ogbonnaya Onu’s net worth. He is a Nigerian politician and has been in the Nigerian political space for many years. He has held several positions like minister, governor, and others.
He was probably worth billions of Naira before the time of his death on 11th April 2024.
Books
Ogbonnaya Onu is an author and wrote several books during his lifetime. These are some of the notable books of Ogbonnaya Onu
- Technology And National Development (1986)
- Building A Modern Nigeria (2005)
- A Footprint: Memoirs Of A Chief Servant (2005)
- From Opposition to Governing Party: Nigeria’s APC Merger Story (2015)