Nollywood icon and founder of the prestigious Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, has died after a brief illness.
The death of Anyiam-Osigwe, who was also the President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), was announced by notable producer cum movie maker, Zik Zulu Okafor, on Monday night.
Okafor said the veteran Nollywood producer who was one of the pillars of the entertainment industry in Nigeria,
gave up the ghost at St. Nicolas Hospital, a private health facility in Lagos, after being in a coma since Saturday.
“Our President, Peace, has passed. As at Saturday, she was reported to be in 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,” Okafor announced on his social media pages.
Her death has also been confirmed by her family in a statement.
“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.
“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.”
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.
