Chisco at 70: Obasanjo, Jonathan, Charly Boy Honour Chidi Anyaegbu

A businessman who built his name around movement and transportation marked a major personal milestone in Lagos, but Chidi Anyaegbu’s 70th birthday celebration was about more than the glamour of a society gathering.

Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, veteran entertainer Charly Boy and several prominent Nigerians joined the founder of Chisco Group at The Delborough Lagos on Saturday as he celebrated seven decades.

The gathering brought together figures from politics, business, entertainment and the wider Nigerian social space. A light-hearted exchange between Obasanjo and Charly Boy also became one of the memorable moments of the evening.

But away from the photographs and celebrity appearances, Anyaegbu had already attached a more practical meaning to his 70th birthday.

Earlier in the birthday activities, Chisco Group donated two Mercedes-Benz buses to the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The buses, with a combined capacity of up to 100 people subject to approved seating and security arrangements, are intended to help transport awaiting-trial inmates to court.

The gesture addresses a less visible part of Nigeria’s justice problem. The Ikoyi facility has more than 3,000 awaiting-trial inmates, while inadequate court transportation has been identified as one of the operational challenges that can affect court appearances and prolong cases.

Anyaegbu explained the thinking behind the donation, saying, “Justice cannot move efficiently when the people who require it cannot get to court.”

The Chisco founder also backed automotive skills training and rehabilitation support for eligible inmates, extending the birthday initiative beyond a one-off donation.

That contrast gave the celebration a second layer. At 70, Anyaegbu was being celebrated by former presidents, entertainers, business leaders and friends, while his birthday programme also focused on people whose own lives are tied to Nigeria’s difficult justice system.

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ValidViewNetwork reports that the celebration brought together different parts of Nigeria’s public life, but the more enduring story may lie in how Anyaegbu chose to mark the milestone.

For a man whose business career has been built around transportation, the decision to put mobility for awaiting-trial inmates at the centre of part of his 70th birthday celebration connected his business history with a public-interest cause.

The Lagos celebration therefore carried two images of the same milestone: a businessman surrounded by prominent Nigerians, and a 70-year-old entrepreneur using his birthday to address a practical problem affecting access to justice. ValidViewNetwork reports.