By Cynthia Akande
Nigerian filmmaker and founder of Africa Movie Academy Awards, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, is dead.
The family of the deceased has released a statement confirming the news of her death.
“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.”
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.”