How Chocolate City Delivered Its $1M Moment and the Team Behind It

Chocolate City’s 20th Anniversary celebration wasn’t just a party; it was a masterclass in storytelling. The evening, which culminated in the announcement of the label’s $1 million Founders Fund, was as seamless as it was symbolic, marking two decades of one of Nigeria’s most influential music companies.

Behind the scenes, a quiet force helped shape that moment. Working closely with the Chocolate City team, Bean Creative IMC managed the live experience end to end, from curating a guest list of artists, executives, and government representatives to orchestrating on-ground logistics and a nationwide media rollout that turned the event into a cultural headline.

“Every detail mattered,” says Desmond Ezebuiro, a member of the planning committee who managed the event for the Chocolate City team. “It wasn’t just about staging an anniversary; it was about protecting legacy and introducing the next chapter with clarity. The collaboration across teams made that possible.”

From coordinating artist performances to handling last-minute logistics and ensuring press visibility, the team’s precision planning ensured the night unfolded effortlessly. Media crews, photographers, and production partners worked in sync to capture clean audio, sharp visuals, and social-first content that extended the Founders Fund story far beyond the venue.

For Audu Maikori and Paul Okeugo, Chocolate City’s co-founders and the evening’s honorees, the night was deeply personal. “We wanted this to be more than nostalgia,” said Maikori. “It was about showing what twenty years of persistence can build and what the next twenty could empower.”
 Okeugo added, “The Founders Fund is a promise to give back, to invest in creative people, and to ensure that the next generation of innovators doesn’t have to start from zero.”

What could have been a simple milestone became a moment of industry reflection, one where history, music, and vision aligned. And in the background, Bean Creative IMC’s seamless coordination made sure it all looked and felt inevitable.