Photo: Onyeka Nwelue with Euvrard Saint Amand, Haiti’s Ambassador to the UK
HISTORY was recorded on Monday, June 4 in the United Kingdom when Oxford-based Nigerian writer, publisher, music producer and filmmaker, Onyeka Nwelue, was formally unveiled as Honorary Consul of Haiti to Anglophone West Africa.
His certificate of designation was formally presented to him on Monday by Mr. Euvrard Saint Amand, Haiti’s Ambassador to the UK, during a brief Investiture ceremony, that was witnessed by the embassy’s senior staff and a few guests.
As Haiti’s Honorary Consul in Anglophone West Africa, Nwelue said he would put his wealth of experience both as a culture producer and one who is widely travelled and “conversant with Haitian history and culture to represent the interest of Haiti and create a synergy between it and Anglophone West Africa.
Author of over nine books, Nwelue, CEO of Abibiman Publishing, La Cave Music and founder of the James Currey Society based in Oxford, among other initiatives, is a widely-travelled culture raconteur, who is conversant with Haitian history and culture.
Shortly after he received his official designation certificate from Mr. Euvrard Saint Amand, Haiti’s Ambassador to the UK, Nwelue said: “There is a need for Haiti, to synergise with the African continent as our souls come from the same source. I am glad and fulfilled that Haiti will permit me to serve Haiti in the fullness of my genuine love for the country. I look forward to building bridges and developing artistic visions that will bring us together.”
Nwelue stressed that he would deploy his multi-disciplinary talents, skills and resources as a culture entrepreneur to advance the cause and of Haiti in Anglophone West Africa.
He told his audience,“Mwen trè rekonesan anvè w e mwen pwomèt pou m sèvi Ayiti ak tout kè m. (Haitian Creole: I am very grateful and I promise to serve Haiti with all my heart.”
“I started a film school at Queensland University, where I received my honorary Doctorate. The former Prime Minister is impressed with what I am doing. So they thought, Okay, this could be their right man for the job,” Nwelue told TheNEWS magazine in a chat.
Nwelue, who is currently an academic visitor at the University of Oxford, continued, “When I was Port Au Prince, I thought I was in Enugu. In fact, I headed to some parts of the city where they have the temples and the same way people hawk groundnut and banana on the street,” he recalled.
A well-noted historian, culture enthusiast, founder of The Diplomatic Jazz Nights, which was rotated through embassies in Nigeria, Nwelue has been an Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford, where he is currently developing Igbo and Haitian studies. He was also the founder/convener of the Bayelsa Book Festival.
Nwelue studied sociology and anthropology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and earned a scholarship to study directing at the Prague Film School in Czech Republic. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, by Universite Queensland in Haiti in 2019, where he also served as the Dean of School of Cinematographic Studies.
He studied ancient masterpieces of world literature, under Professor Martin Puchner at Harvard University. The Onyeka Nwelue Scholarship for outstanding Imo State Economics Students is named after him.
He was a research associate at the University of Johannesburg, in South Africa, where he runs a bookshop and co-founded “World Arts Agency”.
He is currently a visiting assistant professor and visiting fellow of African literature and studies in the English Language Department of the Faculty of Humanities, Manipur University in Imphal, India. He was a visiting research fellow at the Center for International Studies, Ohio University, where he spent time in Athens, Ohio.
Nwelue is the founder of La Cave Musik, a record label based in Paris, France, and co-founded the UK-based publishing house Abibiman Publishing. He is the founder of the Oxford-based James Currey Society, which administers The James Currey Literary Festival, The James Currey Writing and Publishing Workshop, the James Currey Igbo Language Class, the James Currey Haitian Studies, the James Currey Prize for African Literature, The James Currey Fellowship, in cooperation with African Studies Centre at University of Oxford.
He adapted his novella Island of Happiness into an Igbo-language film, Agwaetiti Obiụtọ, which won Best Feature Film by a Director at the 2018 Newark International Film Festival and went on to be nominated for Best First Feature Film by a Director and the Ousmane Sembene Award for Best Film in an African Language at the 2018 Africa Movie Academy Awards. Island of Happiness was inspired by true events in Oguta.
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