Akeem Lasisi
The year appears to be starting on a sour note for Nollywood as one of its pillars, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, is dead.
She was the founder of the African Movie Academy Awards, which was so influential that it helped shape the industry for many years.
AMAA, along the year, became a benchmark for filmmakers who not only aimed to win awards, but also upscale their productions and performances.
But Anyiam-Osigwe’s – nicknamed Queen of Nollywood films – influence transcended Nollywood as AMAA covers all of Africa and the Diaspora.
With her departure, confirmed by some stakeholders, including movie producer, Obi Emelonye, therefore, the continent has lost one of its arts and culture heroines.
In other adventures in which the energetic Amazon was involved, she pioneered the screening of Nollywood films at international film festivals.
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While she was also a poet and trainer, she directed the first music video of hip-hop sensation, P-Square.
In 2012, she was bestowed a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contribution to the entertainment industry.
Anyiam-Osigwe was from the notable Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe family in Nkwerre, Imo State, and only girl in a family of eight children.
She had a degree in Law and political science from Oxford Brookes University.
