Oluremi Comfort Sonaiya (born March 2, 1955), is a Nigerian politician, educationalist and writer. She was

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

's only female presidential candidate in the 2015 general election under the platform of the

KOWA Party KOWA Party (KP) is a political party in Nigeria. KOWA was registered as a political party by the Independent National Electoral Commission on July 16, 2009, by a group of Nigerian Civil Society activists, professionals and technocrats. The current ...

. But recently lost her bid to Dr. Adesina Fagbenro Byron in representing the party again in 2019 election.

Early life and education

Sonaiya was born in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

, the capital of

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is bordered to the north by Kwara State, to the east by Osun ...

, where she completed her primary and secondary school education at St. Luke's Demonstration School, Ibadan and St. Anne's School, Ibadan. In 1977, she graduated from the University of Ife (now

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

), where she studied French. She later obtained a Master of Arts degree in French Literature from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in the United States, and another master's degree in Linguistics from a university in Nigeria in 1984. She returned to Cornell in 1988 to pursue a PhD programme in Linguistics.

Career

In 1982, she was employed as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University before she rose to the position of Professor of French Language and Applied Linguistics in 2004. She is a fellow of the

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (german: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung) is a foundation established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Resear ...

where she went on to be appointed the body's Ambassador Scientist from 2008 to 2014. In 2010, she retired from her position at Obafemi Awolowo University and became politically active, joining the KOWA Party where she was voted its National Public Relations Officer, and went on to be the party's candidate for the 2015 Presidential election. At the election, Sonaiya received 13,076 votes and finished in 12th place.

Publications

Sonaiya is a columnist for ''The Niche'', a Nigerian online newspaper, Sonaiya has published several books including: * ''Culture and Identity on Stage: Social-political Concerns and Enactments in Contemporary African Performing Arts'' (2001) * ''Language Matters: Exploring the Dimensions of Multilingualism'' (2007) * ''A Trust to Earn – Reflections on Life and Leadership in Nigeria'' (2010) * ''Igniting Consciousness – Nigeria and Other Riddles'' (2013) * ''Daybreak Nigeria – This Nation Must Rise!'' (2014)

Personal life

She is married to Babafunso Sonaiya, a professor of animal science, and they have one son, one daughter and grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonaiya, Remi 1955 births Living people Nigerian women writers Yoruba women writers Nigerian women in politics Yoruba women in politics People from Ibadan People from Oyo State Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Cornell University alumni St Anne's School, Ibadan alumni