•World Peace Advocates, Centre for Values in Leadership honour Chisco boss
By Ngozi Nwoke
•L-R: Anyaegbu receiving the award from Ambassador Per Stafsen
Renowned transport magnet and serial entrepreneur, Chief (Dr.) Chidi Anyaegbu, Chairman, Chisco Group of Companies, has earned numerous recognitions over the years for his contributions to social and economic development of the country, and the honours are still rolling in.
Recently, the International Association of World Peace Advocates (IAWPA), conferred on him, the Lord Mayor of Peace, while the Center for Values in Leadership (CVL), honoured him for his accomplishments in transport business. The honours came in quick succession.
The IAWPA presentation of the 2024 class of award was a well attended ceremony, with eminent personalities from all walks of life who gathered to honour Anyaegbu for his giant giant strides.
By this award, Anyaegbu, who is a recipient of two national honurs, MFR and CON, has been inducted into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) international hall of fame for achieving over 50 percent of the SDGs.
While presenting the award, Ambassador Per Stafsen, World Peace president, Kingdom of Denmark, said that in line with the mandate of the IAWPA, “we have conferred Mayor of Peace on him because through his peaceful activities and humanitarian track records he has impacted positively on grassroots development, human capacity and social transformation. Nigeria is indeed filled with human and natural resources, but can only be resourceful through peace.”
He explained that the association had conferred the Mayor of Peace award to only five persons in Africa with Dr. Anyaegbu being the latest awardee.
At a similar event in Lagos, the Center for Values in Leadership (CVL), at the 63rd edition of its Leadership Tribute Colloquium with the theme, ‘Transportation as the Anchor of Economy’, Anyaegbu was honoured for his breakthroughs in transport business.
Prof. Pat Utomi, renowned scholar of political economics, and founder of the leadership centre, said: “At the heart of the CVL mission is the elevation of the dignity of the human person, beginning from Nigeria. The sense of a great duty and a big burden to improve the quality of life of young people in Nigeria, by building good values in them, led to the setting up of a Centre for Values in Leadership.
“The possibility for achieving this would be the talents of young men and women who we will train to become leaders by acquiring knowledge and building the character of service in them through initiatives that improve the conditions of others.”
In his acceptance speech, Anyaegbu expressed delight and gratitude to the organisers for finding him worthy for such recognition. He pointed out that it only takes passion for good governance, transparency and integrity to be awarded by the two prestigious organisations.
“I am highly grateful and filled with delight for the awards given to me by these great organisations. I thank God almighty for the privilege to serve Him and humanity. I pray that God will continue to provide me with the resources, strength, and passion to continue to make positive impacts on humanity.
“On the peace ambassadorial recognition from the international organisation, we always say that whoever seeks peace must receive peace. You have to be peaceful by yourself before you can give peace to another person. If you’re not a peaceful person, you cannot give peace to another person because you can never give what you don’t have. So, I urge everyone to pursue the course of peace.
“Most of you people have heard about my background. I have a humble background. I experienced hardship, growing up. What I am doing today for humanity is what I chose to do because I never knew that I was going to be somebody who would be capable of helping people in this life.
“I have it in mind to continue to carry out my free medical mission project in my community. I don’t know how I am going to achieve it, but by the special grace of God, I will achieve it.
“At the end of the day, I believe that whatever God blesses you with, he didn’t give it to you because of you alone. He gave it to you to help humanity and pass it on to the next generation.
“I don’t know how this organisation got to know about my charity works because I didn’t expect these awards. I am grateful to the organisers for finding me worthy to be a recipient.
“For the purpose of these awards, I will ensure the pursuit of peace because I know that a peaceful person is a godly person. The meaning of these awards is to challenge me to do more for humanity. I’m urging everyone to also get involved in making the world a better place,” remarked.