Obiora Nwokolobia-Agu is his birth name but fondly and widely known as Obiora Obiwon. He is a popularly known Nigerian singer, songwriter, recording artiste, music minister and evangelist.
Obiora was born on June 9, 1977 in Enugu to Sir Humphrey Nwokolobia-Agu, a folk and classical music composer and arranger from south eastern Nigeria.
Obiora Obiwon’s Educational Background
Obiora Obiwon obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science Extension from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 2001.
Obiora Obiwon’s Musical Career
Obiora Obiwon’s journey into music started at an early age of 5 when he used to sing along to HipHop and R’n’B records from his elder brother’s Audio Cassettes, building recording and live performance skills in eastern Nigeria’s music circuit.
Obiora moved to Lagos in 2002 for his National Youth Service Corps, after which he got a bank job in Lagos. His strong passion for music made him quit the exotic bank job and thereafter settled for songwriting, performing on the local streets and hang outs.
Obiora began professionally with his friends in a HipHop group called Thorobreds. It was at this point that he adopted the moniker “Obiwon”, a name which a favourite uncle had fondly called him in his younger years, after a popular science fiction hero.
The group made impact winning Best Rap Group at the 2005 maiden edition of Nigeria’s prestigious music award show, The HipHop World Awards, now known as The Headies.
Obiwon made his debut album, Overture was released in 2006. Overture produced the now classic Nigerian hit ballad “Onyinye” and was nominated for three awards at 2007 Hip Hop World Awards, and won the Best Vocal Male Performance category.
The talented singer was also honoured as Nigeria’s Voice of the Decade (21st century) at the Nigerian Music Awards.
July 2008 was a turning point for the highly talented Obiwon, as he revealed that he had undergone a spiritual experience and announced a transition into the Christian/Gospel music genre. His artiste name ‘Obiwon’ was also re-branded to ‘Obiora Obiwon’ to enable him create a stronger and more distinct identity for his brand.
In 2009, Obiora released his second studio album and first Christian/Gospel album “The Rebirth” which became noted for songs such as “F.a.t.h.e.r”, “Victorious” and “The Rebirth (Kene Gi)”.
The song was very successful as the album turned out to be the hit love song and wedding anthem “Obi Mu O”, a song dedicated to his then wife to be. Since transiting to Christian/Gospel music, Obiwon has continued to minister at various churches, Christian and other secular events.
In 2013, Obiwon received with his first gospel music award at the National Gospel Awards as Best Crossover Act for the song “F.a.t.h.e.r 2.0”.
In November 2013, Obiora released another hit album, ‘Gold Water’ which contained notable singles “Testify”, “Pour Your Love” and the urban gospel hit “Hail My King”.
Gold Water featured top Nigerian urban gospel stars like Frank Edwards, Eben and Kenny K’ore.
“Gold Water” was honoured at the Crystal Awards 2014, where Hail My King received the Best Collaboration award.
“Gold Water” also won four awards out of five nominations at the 4th Annual Nigerian Gospel Music Awards (NGMA), winning for Best Collaboration Song for “Hail My King”, Best Soul/R&B Song for “Good To Me”, Worship Song of the Year for “Pour Your Love” and Album of the Year.
Obiwon’s long time producer and friend, Phat-E was also honored as Gospel Producer of the Year award for his work on “Gold Water”.
He has since then released a number of singles including “Floodgates (The New Overflow)”, “God Of Wonders”, “Bunibe”, “A Billion Halleluyah” (2017), “Surge” featuring Glowreeyah Braimah (2018) and “The Life Of Testimony” (2019) and many others.
Obiwon’s Marital Life
Obiwon has been happily married to Nkechi Obioma Ezeife since 22 October 2011. Their marriage is blessed with two children, a boy and a girl.
Obiora Obiwon’s Net Worth
Obiora Obiwon is indeed a talented and famous Nigerian gospel artiste, rated one of the richest and most influential with an estimated net worth of about $500,000 dollars.
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