Oluremi Comfort Sonaiya (born March 2, 1955) is a Nigerian politician, educationalist and writer. She was
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
's only female presidential candidate in the
2015 general election under the platform of the
KOWA Party. 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 city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...
, the capital of
Oyo State
Oyo is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo ...
, 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 university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...
), where she studied French.
She later obtained a Master of Arts degree in French Literature from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
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 () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...
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 grandchild.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonaiya, Remi
1955 births
Living people
Nigerian women writers
Nigerian women in politics
People from Ibadan
People from Oyo State
Obafemi Awolowo University alumni
Cornell University alumni
St Anne's School, Ibadan alumni