AMAA Founder, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe dies
One of the pillars of the entertainment industry in Nigeria and the Founder of the prestigious AMAA Awards, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe is dead.
She reportedly gave up the ghost at St. Nicolas Hospital, Lagos after being in a coma since Saturday. Her family confirmed her passing in a press statement on Monday.
“The Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe clan in thanksgiving to God and in the belief that God is good and everything He does is good and in accordance with His divine will, pattern and plan, announce the passing to the eternal glory of our illustrious beloved daughter, sister, aunt and great aunt, Ms. Peace Maria Ogechi Anyiam-Osigwe (MFR),” the family said in a statement.
“Peace, the Ada of the Anyiam-Osigwe family, was an outstanding personality, trailblazer, titan, pathfinder, go-getter, humanitarian, one-of-a-kind creative, and visionary leader in the film and television industry. Peace left indelible imprints on the sands of time.”
News of her passing was rife on Tuesday morning following posts from colleagues.
Nollywood filmmaker Zik Zulu wrote on a Nollywood platform that Anyiam-Osigwe who is also the president of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) was gone.
“Our President, Peace, has passed. As of Saturday, she was reported to be in a coma at Saint Nicholas. But now her family has confirmed her transition. May the memory of her life be a blessing. Rest in peace, dear Peace.”
Another filmmaker Obi Emelonye also wrote about her passing on a social media platform.
Anyiam-Osigwe was recognised as one of the pillars of Nollywood. She founded the Africa Film Academy which organises AMAA yearly in 2005. Last year, during a press conference to unveil plans for the 2023 edition of the awards, Anyiam-Osigwe hinted at her plans to focus more on training young filmmakers. The family has pledged to keep her legacy alive.
“We as a family and clan will continue to do all that is necessary to ensure that her legacy lives on – the Africa Movie Academy Awards and the Africa Film Academy, along with their training programmes across Nigeria and the African continent will carry on seamlessly by institutions she set up and with the full support of the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation and other Institutions and Government Agencies with whom she has worked over the years. Her numerous charities across different religious denominations and other communities will also be continued.”
The Nollywood icon was from the notable Anyiam-Osigwe family in Nkwerre, Imo State, and the only girl in a family of eight children. She had a degree in Law and political science from Oxford Brookes University.
