In Memoriam: Genevieve Nnaji, Rita Dominic Others Pay Tribute To Nollywood Icon Amaka Igwe
Following the death of prolific director, Amaka Igwe, tributes and condolence messages have flooded cyber space even as Nollywood heavyweights such as Genevieve Nnaji, Stella Damasus, Rita Dominic and several others have taken to social media to express their grief at the passing of the late icon.
Amaka Igwe, who passed away last night after an asthma attack while on location in Enugu, would be best remembered for her immense contribution to Nollywood with such classics like Checkmate, Violated, Rattle Snake and so on.
Check out reactions from Nollywooders below:
Genevieve Nnaji
"This
is the darkest day of my entire career. That i believe sums up how i
feel right now. Your legacy will live on Aunty Amaka. I promise you"
"A great woman who dared where men tread has passed on! RIP aunty Amaka!!! Our Prayers are with you Uncle Charles"
"I am still in shock! Oh! How we have lost a great one! Rest In Peace Amaka Igwe"
Don Pedro Obaseki
“Tears
rain down. Rest in Peace, Great Amazon. Rest. We Won’t Miss you,
because everywhere we turn in Nollywood, we see you! We feel you, Amaka!
I remain your friend, even in the afterlife!”
“She
has gone home. God rest her soul. For the rest of us here, well I
wonder what the future holds or how long we have. I would rather spend
each day working towards my salvation. Death does not have a clock.RIP
aunty Amaka. I just can’t understand this. Too painful to even begin to
think about it. My prayer goes out to uncle charles and the children.“
“It
came as a rude shock! I haven’t been opportune to work with her but I
admire her from distance and what she does. Nollywood has lost one of
her icons.“
“I have no words to express how I feel right now Why!! Why!! Why!! All I hear is silence!!“
“Icon..legend…pioneer…trail
blazer…whatever name best fits…she brought flames to television…made
careers..institutionalized nollywood…reaffirmed our faith in creative
ingenuity… From Ann Haastrup in Checkmate to Ahanna in Rattle Snake and
Peace in Fuji house of commotion…Amake Igwe was the master of character
reality… Sleep on Ma…Some of us found the courage to dream because of
you…“
“Why
should the great Amaka Igwe bow to death now? A substantial part of
Nollywood and the African motion picture industry is dead with her
sudden demise. She was indeed the Duchess of Nollywood. She never did
any business outside Nollywood and the Nigerian entertainment industry
generally. She gave the industry her all. As Madam Chair of the
Nigerian Entertainment Business Group (NEBG), she worked tirelessly to
reposition the industry. It will be hard for any female Nollywood
practitioner to step into the big shoe Amaka has left behind. Her
departure is a colossal loss not just to her family but to Nollywood,
the entire Nigerian entertainment industry and Nigeria as a nation. She
must be deservedly mourned along these strata,”.
Rita Dominic
Rita Dominic
“Your body of work will be an inspiration to many generations.. Adieu Aunty Amaka till we meet to part no more.”
'We
have lost an icon... A teacher, she taught everything i know about
acting for screen. I have never heard of method acting till i met Amaka
Igwe ... This is hard..very hard # gone too soon.."