It was a very emotional evening on Monday, June 9, when the service of songs and night of tributes took place at the Haven Centre, Archbishop Vining Memorial Anglican Church, G.R.A., Ikeja, Lagos, in honour of the late Amaka Igwe.
The late Amaka Igwe
Actor and Commissioner for Culture and Tourism in Delta State, Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD,) and actress, Ireti Doyle, did a good job as comperes for the solemn event that began with praise. They both interspersed their role of comperes with their own tribute for the deceased, both remembering her for her kindness to them.
A sermon from the pulpit was designed like a movie set, with lovely pictures of Amaka as a backdrop on the dais.
First to come forward to speak was Ego Boyo, who played Ann Haastrope in the soap opera, Checkmate, conceived by Amaka Igwe. She warned that she had written a speech because she feared that if she did not she would break down. But that did not work, as she broke down in tears.
Listening to her talk, it was easy to see why she could not hold it in. She said that not only was the late film icon her friend, she was also the person who introduced her to acting.
“She was my mentor and always told me ‘you have to do this, we have to do that, you have to come and do this film’,” she said, and explained how she first met Amaka Igwe when the film-maker came to her house to speak with her father, and how she later gave her a script to read, which turned out to be for her role in Checkmate.
Next to speak was Kunle Bamtefa (Chief T.A. Fuji of Fuji House of Commotion, the sitcom which came out of Checkmate) who told of how Amaka Igwe had come to meet him at the point when Fuji House of Commotion was about to premiere on African Independent Television (AIT).
He said although he had left Checkmate, Amaka Igwe came to him and said she would only do it if he would act as Chief Fuji, since she did not believe there was any other person who could play the role as well as he had done it in the soap opera.
Bamtefa said most of the actors who played the children in Fuji House of Commotion paid their school fees from the money they were paid. He also said that Amaka Igwe was not one to lobby for sponsorship because she believed in the strength of her creativity to bring the right sponsors. And that has been the case over the years, he explained.
When film-maker, Gabriel Okoye, popular known as Gabosky, came out to speak, he said Amaka Igwe was the only woman film-maker back in the days when idea of Nollywood was mooted. And that she was one among the few in the industry that could finance their own films.
Then came Dewunmi Ogunsanya, who spoke of her integrity, saying that he had no cause to show up since everything was as it should be from the word go.
Many other personalities from Nollywood and corporate Nigeria came out to testify to Amaka Igwe’s impressive character.
While singer, Waje, sang for the family left behind, the most impressive tribute for the night was from the deceased’s daughter, Ruby Igwe, whose tribute drew applause and a standing ovation. The 19-year-old lawyer-to-be composed herself very well and did not miss a bit until she came to the very end of extolling the virtues of her late mum.
The gathering had the likes of Ali Baba (comedian), Peace Anyiam-Osigwe, Tony Abulu, John Ugbe, Ufuoma Ejenebor, Bimbo Akintola, Onyeka Onwenu, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Tunde Kelani, Patrick Doyle and a host of others.
Amaka Igwe died on April 28 at 51.
