Ogbonnaya OnuCON (1 December 1951 – 11 April 2024) was a Nigerian politician, author and engineer. He was the first civilian governor of Abia State and was the minister of science, technology and innovation of Nigeria from November 2015 until his resignation in 2022. He was the longest serving minister of the ministry.[1]
Biography
Ogbonnaya Onu was born on 1 December 1951, to the family of Eze David Aba Onu in Amata, Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of then Eastern region, later Imo State, then Abia State and now Ebonyi StateNigeria.[2] He started his education at Izzi High School in Abakaliki, now the Ebonyi State capital. Here, he obtained grade one with distinction in his West African School Certificate Examination.[3] He also sat for the High School Examination at College of Immaculate Conception (C.I.C) Enugu, graduating as the overall best student.[4] He proceeded to the University of Lagos and graduated with a first class degree in chemical engineering in 1976. He went for his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in chemical engineering in 1980.[5] Onu died on 11 April 2024, at the age of 72.[6]
Career
Teaching career
After his graduation from the University of Lagos, Ogbonnaya Onu became a teacher at St. Augustine's Seminary, Ezzamgbo, Ebonyi State. After the completion of his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Onu became a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Port Harcourt, and later became the pioneer head of the department. He 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.<[3]
Onu said Nigeria would begin local production of pencils[14] by 2018 which he said would provide 400,000 jobs.[15][16] As of 2019, he said production of pencils had not commenced.[7] In 1999, prior to the presidential election and the alliance between the All People's Party and Alliance for Democracy, Onu was involved in a conflict involving both APP/AD picking Olu Falae as the joint presidential flag bearer.[17]
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