Pastor Shyngle Wigwe, father of the late former group CEO of Access Holdings Herbert Wigwe, has celebrated his 90th birthday in Lagos.
A birthday dinner was first held in his honour before a thanksgiving service took place in church.
Shyngle is a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
At the dinner, Access Bank sent cakes to the celebrant. A friend of the family and Wigwe’s business associate Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, who is now chairman of Access Holdings, sent cakes on behalf of his family.
Founder and president of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote attended the birthday dinner. He was a close friend of the celebrant’s late son.
Shyngle was joined by his wife Stella, children, grandchildren, friends and well-wishers throughout the celebration.
Shyngle was born on October 8, 1934, to the family of Augustus Wigwe, a police officer, and Watuze Wigwe in Isiokpo, Rivers State.
In 1997, his first child Osita died in a road accident while travelling from Lagos to Port Harcourt.
Born on August 15, 1966, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, Wigwe, his wife Chizoba and first son Chizi died in a helicopter crash in Southern California, United States on February 9, 2024.
The former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo, and two crew members who were also on the helicopter died.
On Wigwe’s first posthumous birthday, his parents said in a statement that although their son’s death broke their hearts they take solace in God’s ability to heal them.
“Words cannot express the depth of our love for you and the immense void your absence has left in our hearts. Today, 58 years ago, God blessed us with the precious gift of you, our beloved ‘Gege’.
“Though your departure was sudden and heartbreaking, we find solace in knowing that only the Almighty can mend our shattered hearts,” they said.
