BY Onoshe Nwabuikwu
Actress Osas Ighodaro was crowned Best Actress at the 8th edition of the AMVCAs (Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards) which took place on Sunday, May 15, 2022. Osas’ win is for her role as Amara in Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story, a 2020 film directed by Ramsey Nouah. Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story is a remake of the 1995 Rattlesnake directed by Amaka Igwe. Back to Osas Ighodaro and her Best Actress award, I wish I could say I was surprised. Like this article, this win has been a long time coming.
I am not quite sure exactly when Osas came into the limelight in Nigeria, but I remember noticing her when she hosted Maltina Dance All, the reality TV dance show designed for families, friends, and their usually more talented children. She’d taken over from Kemi Adetiba in 2013 and hosted the show for two editions. Actually, I think before the Maltina Dance All gig, Osas had already started in Tinsel where she played the role of Adanna. And from Tinsel, she found love in one of her co-stars Gbenro Ajibade who plays Soji. Osas and Gbenro weren’t the only Tinsel stars bitten by the love bug: a handful of other actors got married including Linda Ihuoma Ejiofor & Ibrahim Suleiman (Bimpe and Damini in Tinsel), Florence & Iyke Okechukwu (Ene and Chuks), Damilola Adegbite & Chris Attoh (Telema and Kwame) …and possibly a few newer couples since I last checked.
The complete Tinsel love boat story can be told another day, but I bring it up only because events from Osas and Gbenro’s failed marriage thrust Osas into a harsh public glare. Without going into the back and forth of it, anyway, we only know what’s reported in the news anyhow and our society journalists are sometimes the last to know which of course means the readers also don’t get it. Well, Osas’ ex-husband had accused her of being a bad mother to their now almost 6-year-old daughter and lots of immature ranting. For what it’s worth, I think many Nigerians have already let Mr. Ajibade know that he goofed so I can leave adding how stupid trash-talking the mother of your child is. Now, the part that concerns me is how Osas has bounced back from that unpleasant public humiliation and what must have been very depressing.
In 2019, around about the time she was in the news for all the wrong reasons, Osas appeared to have decided to use all that negative energy to propel her career forward and these are just some of the works she’s done from 2019. She featured as Candy in Your Excellency (directed by Funke Akindele), Demidun in Bling Lagosians (directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters), Amara in Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story, Mena in Mama Drama (directed by Seyi Babatope), Sarah Bello in Ratnik (directed by Dimeji Ajibola), Preemo in Namaste Wahala (directed by Hamisha Daryani Ahuja), Eloho in Mamba’s Diamond (directed by Seyi Babatope), Hilda in Bad Comments (directed by Moses Inwang), Teju in Man of God (directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters), to name a few of her film projects. Added to these are her roles as Sergeant Alice Iyanu in MTV Shuga, Zuri in The Smart Money Woman (directed by Bunmi Ajakaiye), Chioma in Assistant Madams, Sade Bello in King of Boys: The Return of the King (directed by Kemi Adetiba).
From the foregoing, everyone can see that Osas is obviously a hard worker. Not just that, outside of acting, she has a cheerful and winsome attitude. On the night of the AMVCAs, she also emerged as the Best Dressed woman. And Rattlesnake also won big on the night: Stan Nze emerged Best Actor for his role as Ahanna, Ramsey Nouah won Best Director (for Rattlesnake) while Muhammed Atata Ahmed won for Best Cinematography.
All that’s left to say until the next award is: All hail Queen Osas!
Full List of AMVCA 2022 Winners
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