A former Minister of Science and Technology under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, and Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has died at the age of 72.
Ogbonnaya, the first civilian governor of Abia State died in an undisclosed health facility after a brief illness.
Ogbonnaya is an accomplished engineer, administrator, and author, who obtained a B.Sc. 1st Class in Chemical Engineering at the University of Lagos (Unilag). He later obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Chemical Engineering (without passing through a Masters degree) at the University of California, Berkeley, California, USA, in 1980, where he did extensive work on coal liquefaction and production of synthetic fuels under mild conditions.
Onu was a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Department of Chemical Engineering, where he later became the pioneer Head. He subsequently served as Acting Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and was elected a Member of the Governing Council of the University.
In 1991, he contested the position of Governor of the old Abia State and won to become the first Governor of the State. He was also the first Chairman, the Conference of Nigerian elected Governors. Sadly, his and his colleagues’ tenure was truncated by the then Military Government – thus denying the people of Abia and Nigeria at large, many dividends of his impressive programme of action. During this short tenure, he successfully abolished the State-of-Origin Syndrome in Abia State, founded the Abia State Polytechnic at Aba, and established the College of Technical Education in Arochukwu, the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State and National Ambassador Newspapers, which then won several awards as the best State-owned Newspaper. He also commenced the processes for the establishment of a Technology Village and the introduction of computers into selected public schools.
Onu was the Presidential flag-bearer for the All People’s Party in 1999 and Chairman of the party in 2010. Onu remained in opposition purely out of principle and never moved from one political party to another until he successfully led his party into a merger with some others to form the All Progressive Congress, which has been running the Federal and several states since May 2015.
Onu is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers and Academy of Engineering, Onu is also a Certified Member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria. He holds six patents and has written twelve books on different subject areas including philosophy, poetry, politics, developmental studies, biography, science and technology.
He is married to Dr. (Mrs) Chinyere Onu with children and grandchildren.
