‘We Had A Twirl’ — Joke Silva Recounts Onyeka Onwenu’s Last Moments

Veteran Nollywood actor, Joke Silva, has recounted the moment she had a brief dance with Onyeka Onwenu just before she collapsed at the 80th birthday celebration of Stella Okoli, founder of Emzor Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company, on July 30.

Moments after performing her hit song ‘One Love,’ Onwenu was said to have returned to her seat and suddenly slumped.

The celebrated artist was immediately rushed to Reddington Hospital, Lagos, where she was later confirmed dead.

In a recent interview on WithChude, Silva, who was present at the event, recounted the singer’s final moments saying, “We were at the party together at the same table. At some point while she was performing when she was going around the room, she came to me. You know, I’m a super armchair dancer. I don’t like getting up to dance, but I love dancing on my chair, and she was performing, and I was enjoying her performance and was dancing to it. So she just came round the room to where I sat and pulled me up, and we had a bit of a twirl.”

The actress said despite immediate efforts to revive her, including CPR administered by medical personnel at the event, Onwenu was pronounced dead at hospital Hospital, after two hours.

“She was singing ‘One Love’ and close to the end of the song I went back to my seat and she also went back to her seat. And it was when I looked across that I heard Shola Momoh saying ‘she’s not well. She slumped on her chair’. But then she was just unconscious. She had an impulse.

“CPR was performed while she was laid down on the floor. We tried to revive her. We asked for doctors in the house to come and look at her and they did. Later on, I went to the hospital. And she was there for about one and half hours before she finally passed,” she said.

Onwenu’s sons, Abraham and Tijani Ogunlende, recalled that the doctors “made every effort to save her life.”

Peter Obi, who was also present at the event, described the moment Onwenu collapsed as “shocking and tragic” for everyone in attendance.

The legendary singer’s service of songs was held on Friday, August 30, at the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, and was attended by notable figures, including Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, and Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State.

Onwenu was laid to rest at the Ebony Vaults in Ikoyi, Lagos.