SHE WROTE SCRIPTS FOR NEW MASQUERADE
The likes of Director General Centre for Women Development, Mrs. Onyeka Owenu, reputable actor, Tony Akposeri, accomplished filmmaker, Tunde Kelani and former President African Movie Academy Award(AMAA) have all described her as a good person that Nigeria will miss for a very long time.
Prior to the burial, a service of songs was held at Havens Event Centre in Lagos, followed by another on Thursday at Opara Square in Enugu State.
Born 51 years, ago, Amaka Igwe was educated at the University of Ile-Ife where she bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and Religious Studies before proceeding to the University of Ibadan for her Masters in Library and Information Services.
She is credited for writing some scripts for the Ojo Ladipo Theatre, the New Masquerade before she wrote Checkmates, Fuji House of Commotion and dozens of other movies. She is survived by grandmother, a husband and three children.
A Member of the Federal Republic(MFR), she was also one of those in the committee charged with the responsibility to administer the N3billion Film Intervention Fund put in place by President Goodluck Jonathan to train practitioners and put up structures in place. Amaka is also a co-founder of Top Radio, Lagos and Chief Executive Officer of BOB TV.
Amaka Igwe Uplifted African Cinema – Tunde Kelani
“Amaka to me is like a sister and professional colleague, I am sure that many people will not remember that we worked together on Mnet New Direction Series, which for me was the catalyst for the development of Nigerian and indeed African cinema. We took part in workshops in Goree Island in Darkar, with other writers, producers, directors and technicians, we have the privilege to work together on the film she directed, which was shot then on celluloid. We had a professional relationship and Amaka is a good person, she is one of the hardest working iconic female filmmaker Africa has ever produced. We had some problem at a point after a project, she called me and said, Oga TK, I said, I am not Oga, I am TK and she said she has something to tell me, that she was apologizing for something and I concluded that look Amaka, I have decided that you don’t like Yoruba people and she said, the point is that somebody misled her in that decision and that she was sorry and from that point, I said, Amaka, you are my sister and from that point, we kept interest in each other’s development.
“Therefore my conclusion is that Amaka will be missed, there can never be another Amaka Igwe because she suddenly uplifted with other people African cinema and particularly left her footprint on the Nigerian Film Industry. Amaka did not build a house; she may have built a house I don’t know about, but I am certain and sure that Amaka built an institution and she has left this legacy for the coming generation, may she rest in peace.
“Amaka’s Script was Turned Down 9 Times in New Masquerade – Tony Akposeri
“Amaka started with us, we encouraged her and she never forgot it. Amaka is a determined smart and brunt person, very strict. We met in New Masquerade, years back when it started, any script that is coming for production must be read thoroughly so that the story tallies with what the people and government will like.
Because of that we had a person we called Kalu Okpi from Lagos, he was the Chief Script Writer for NTA. We normally hold workshops from time to time. We had people like Giringory and Peter Eneh who were just script writers and Amaka Igwe nee Isaac Amaka Eneh was working at the National Library, Enugu.
“I believe that was her first script, when she brought the script, to Chief Zebredaya, he went through the script, it was not good enough, she was encouraged to write another one. I believed she wrote more than 8 scripts, none of them was produced, because Kalu Okpi will look through the script, others will look through until, she brought about the 9th one, this time, Chika Okpala gave it to me and I went through it and I told her what do; still that script did not work until she wrote another one when she brought it I read through it and I called Chika Okpala, the producer that I think this script has some substance let’s look at it, for the following reasons, One, there was deviation. This time she wrote about sports, something that people like Peter Eneh, never wrote about. He said okay, so I put it in for typing, then I was still a production staff at NTA. So, the script was typed, we went for rehearsal, we all read through it, and made contribution to the script, this time we moved from ABS to NTA Enugu, she will just come and say PM, any hope for me, how did my script go?
“That day when she came, she said she was on break, she was sweating, I still remember, then, she waited until I came, and she said Tony tell me now, I was looking at her, I said, I like your spirit, don’t worry, we are producing your script this time around, her breathe came down and she said, God, that was how it started. I have forgotten the title of the script, but it is all about sports. At Sitcom, we create an episode, end an episode but I can’t remember, the title of that script, so when we were going to start the following season, I told chief, look it will be wise to invite this girl, Amaka and he said , yes, so I invited her for a script workshop and she contributed very well, from there, she started writing scripts.
“ I believe she also wrote for Bassey and Co and I really encouraged her, and later she wrote Checkmate and when she did her first anniversary of Checkmate, she invited me. Not quite long, when I saw her, she told me, Tony you are one guy that encouraged me in script writing, I remember what you did for me in Masquerade, though I never got to see her again, until she wrote Fuji House of Commotion where I did somethings for her, so that was it, May her soul rest in peace.
There Can Never Be another Amaka Igwe – Onyeka Owenu
“I am sorrowful, I am sad, I am unhappy, but at the same time very grateful to God for the life Amaka Igwe led. You can see the people here; you can hear the tribute, if you ask, we are down but we are celebrating at the same and giving glory to God and learning a few things for ourselves to improve lives, to give more. Amaka gave and gave and gave in every direction, she gave so much to this nation, she was passionate about Nigeria, she was passionate about her profession, using it to move this country forward; she gave so much, to the last minutes, Amaka was giving, what a tremendous Nigerian that she was. We thank God that he deemed it possible and he was gracious to send her hear as a Nigerian and indeed as many have said, her legacy will live on.
“There is no replacement for Amaka, there can never be another Amaka, she was a bundle of talent. She was a director and producer per excellence, she was a writer, she was a visionary, she could think of things that no one else would. She was so creative, she was a professional. So, it is going to be difficult to fill that space, so I am going to advice that we don’t even try to; what we should do is to create an environment where talents could thrive, where creativity can thrive. There are many Amaka out there in their own different areas, in their own combination of talents and gifts. Perhaps the greatest gift that Amaka gave was to create room so that others could come up, so that others could grow and this is what we need to encourage, what we need to build on”.
Amaka Igwe and I Were United in Building Nollywood – Peace Anyiam Osigwe
“Amaka Igwe is my big sister and she will always be my big sister, I am in pain, this is the most unexpected thing, Amaka with her creative genius is not somebody I expected to pass away, not now, in the next twenty or thirty years regardless of whatever.
“Who are we to question God, Amaka and I were sisters united in building Nollywood and making sure our distribution works. We may have our differences but our aims was the same. The same aim of making sure that there is some kind of structure in the way Nollywood can move forward. It will be extremely difficult for anybody to step into Amaka’s shoes.
“Her shoes are too big to fill; were do we start from, is it her editing, she edicts most of her programmes, is it her directing, or is the fact that she has run the longest soap in Nigeria, there are so many things that you cannot just begin to discuss in regard to big sis.
“The only thing I keep praying is for God to grant Uncle Charles, the children, the family , immediate and extended the fortitude to bear the loss of Amaka and for us her colleagues, it is a difficult one. When I first came back to Nigeria, I was always in big sister’s house and my driver and I will not leave till 10 in the night and we will be talking and not even realize what time it was; we will be talking about distribution, about so many things but what I do know is that she will rest with god in heaven and that she will cover her family with the blood of Jesus, both her creative industry and the general one.
