Ogbonnaya Onu

Ogbonnaya Onu (born December 1, 1951) is a Nigerian politician, author and engineer. He is the Minister for Science and Technology under the President Muhammadu Buhari's administration. He was the first Executive Governor of Abia State under the National Republican Convention from January 1992 to November 1993. He was also the party leader for the All Nigerian People's Party before its coalition with other parties to form the All Progressives Congress. He contested for the position of the President under the umbrella of the All People's Party (later known as ANPP) in 1999 but lost to Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP.

Ogbonnaya Onu was born on the 1st of December 1951, to the family of His Royal Highness, Late Eze David Aba Onu (Eze Adu of Uburu) in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State Nigeria. He started his education at Izzi High School in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital. Here, he obtained grade one with distinction in his West African School Certificate Examination. He also sat for the High School Examination at College of Immaculate Conception (C.I.C) Enugu, graduating as the overall best student. 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 PhD in Chemical engineering in 1980.

After his graduation from the University of Lagos, Ogbonnaya Onu became a teacher at St. Augustine’s Seminary, Ezzamgbo, Ebonyi State. After the completion his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. 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.

Ogbonnaya Onu contested for the position of Governor of Abia State in 1991 under the umbrella of the National Republican Convention and won. He was sworn in as the first Executive Governor of the State in January 1992. He was the first Chairman, Conference of Nigerian elected Governors. In 1999, he contested for the Presidential seat of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the umbrella of the All People's Party but lost to Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP. He became the National Party Chairman of the All Nigerian People's Party 2010.^[1] In 2013, he 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). In November 2015, he was appointed Minister of Science and Technology by President Muhammadu Buhari.