The Anchor Heritage Initiative (AHI) recently gathered its stakeholders in Lagos to mark its eighth anniversary and celebrate the life and legacy of its late founder, Mr. Bidemi Oladipupo.

Over the eight years of its existence, the AHI has advocated for inmates, gave voice to the voiceless, and helped free the wrongly incarcerated.
Delivering the keynote address at the event, Mr Charles Enwere lauded the late founder for his achievements and the impact on society. “He may not be here, in this room, but every single person here is now part of that legacy, no matter where we come from,” Enwere said.

“He won prestigious awards while doing the job, and with no mistakes, he was a professional to the core.

We all can attest to how much effort he put in making sure whatever he puts his hands on succeeds. And that’s why Anchor Heritage today, is what it is. He saw men and women behind bars who needed help, not just judgment, but they needed a restart button,” he added.

The theme of the event was New Beginning. It was a celebration of past achievements and the anticipation of future endeavours. Since its inception, AHI has facilitated the release of 477 inmates. The inmates were not only freed, but also equipped with vocational skills to get reintegrated into society to thrive. Some of these skills include ICT skills like, programming, graphic designing, website development.

The foundation also has Agodi bakery where inmates are equipped with baking skills to thrive after being released. Other acts of goodwill carried out by the AHI include scholarship initiatives of which Nifmat High School was a beneficiary.

Former inmates and students from Nifmat High School were in attendance to celebrate and show their gratitude to the organisation for their support and love.

Pastor Peter Adeshina Babalola, General Manager of AHI, stated that the passing of AHI’s founder brought about the theme of the event. “And again, we have this unfortunate instance where we lost our founder early in the year, January 25, 2025, and so with his passing, a new leadership void is created. We are all starting all over again as it were. So that necessitated the theme of this programme that this is a new beginning, but at the same time we are continuing the legacy Mr. Bidemi Oladipupo started 8 years ago.”