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He witnessed
poverty while growing up as a young man. For him, it was very hard and there
was no help from anywhere. He grew up doing menial job to fend for himself and
for his education. But today, he saw that era of poverty not as a curse, but as
a stepping stone to where he is today.
With little
or nothing, he was able to go through the four walls of the university and
bagged different degrees in finance, accounting, economy, tax and Banking and
Finance.
Now, having defeated poverty, Ken Ikechukwu
Ojiri, a technocrat, an entrepreneur and a man of all fields of life, have
decided to appreciate God for making him successful in life. “The day I
established Ken Ojiri Foundation was my greatest day because I did it to help
the needy having gone through the process,” Ken Ojiri stated.
He floated a
humanitarian organization to help the needy in Nigeria. The son of Ogwa- Ala,
in Owerri Local Government area and a graduate of Banking and Finance from the
Anambra State University of Technology, Awka Anambra State, is aspiring to
contest 2015 Imo State gubernatorial election under the Accord Party, a platform
giving to him by coalitions of political parties in Imo State.
“I’m driven
by the fact that I wouldn’t want people to go through what I went through in
life. I had a rough child-hood so to say. I wasn’t born with a silver-spoon in
my mouth or is it a ‘golden spoon’. I think I was born with a ‘wooden spoon’
and God having shown a favour to me, as a Christian, any opportunity I have to
show kindness to people, I won’t hesitate to do that”, he stated.
“My becoming
a philanthropist is a way of giving God, what he has giving to me and thanking
Him in appreciation for all he did for me. So I don’t want people to go through
the hardship that I went through while growing up, so it’s something driven by
passion to help and not because I want to go into politics. It has nothing to
do with my political ambition. Most of the things I do, I wouldn’t want it to
be done in an open”.
Ojiri said
he is a grassroots man. He has traveled far and wide but still lives in his
village and so deeply connected with the people of Imo State.
“I’m
peoples’ person. I’m very close to my people and I think being close to people
would offer you that opportunity to attain to their needs. I wouldn’t want a
situation; I would be living in towns and big hotels and distancing myself away
from my people. I have a whole lot of people in my scholarship scheme handled
by my Foundation; Ken Ojiri Foundation”.
He has gone
far to establish a Foundation-Ken Foundation programme, that cut across Imo
State and beyond Imo State.
Ojiri
started life after graduation and build his career in oil and gas and have over
20 years of experience. “I’m a chartered financial controller and I also run
consultancy services called Dan Consultancy, where I proffer solutions to
companies and on financial management and then provide tax consultancy services
for them. I work with a few revenue boards across Nigeria”.
“I have
worked for a lot of oil and gas companies and past of the businesses I run is
called start-up businesses, where multinationals come up with small-scale
business and getting people like us to run them and when it becomes profitable
they sell them off. So that is what we do and then I take the retainer-ship.
Most of the consultancies I run are the companies that I was part of from the
initial stages of building up the companies, and then when we sell them off, I
maintain the retainer-ship”.
Born to the
family of Ojiri-Iwuala of Owalla-Urattain Owerri North Local Government Area of
Imo State, Mr. Kenneth Ikechukwu Ojiri KO had a humble beginning. He is an
erudite scholar, a local and international business practitioner and a
relentless crusader of justice.
Ken Ojiri,
as he is fondly called, is a rare and radiant gem. Intelligent, enterprising
and generous, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Darlko Consulting Limited, a
Nigeria-based management and tax consultancy outfit; a philanthropist, grassroots
mobilizer and bridge-builder. He radiates light which has illuminated a great
number of lives and homes. His radiance, alluring as it is, originates from a
decent and humble home training. He is an ardent promoter of social and moral
values.
Wielding
numerous Masters Degrees obtained from world class universities in Africa,
Europe and America, including: The University of Maastricht, The Netherlands,
Ceram School of Management, France, The University of Groningen, The
Netherlands and the University of Nigeria, Ojiri is a renowned scholar.
He rose from
obscurity to held Leadership and administrative positions in core private and
public institutions within and outside Nigeria. Undoubtedly, at corporate,
local, national and international levels, Ojiri is not found wanting. He is a
financial adviser to several states and local Government areas within and
outside Nigeria.
As a
committed leader, he sat on the board of several organizations and Committees,
including the Niger Delta Peace Academy, 2004-2007 and its seminal Peace and
Reconciliation Committee 2006 to 2007. KO is an ardent believer in good
governance, as well as exemplary leadership.
As a
philanthropist Ojiri strongly believes in education as an effective instrument
for alleviating poverty and restiveness among youths. This is the guiding
philosophy of the Ken Ojiri Foundation’s Ken is a recipient of the 2013
Humanitarian Service Award of the Lions Club international (Imo State Chapter);
2013 Merit Award of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, in recognition
of his contributions to sports development in Imo State; 2013 Ambassador of
Faith Award of the Glorious Grace Bible International Church and 2014 Award of
Excellence of Owalla Central Youth Movement in recognition of his unflinching
support and contribution to the development of Owalla-Uratta, 2014 Award of
Excellence as Icon of Exemplary Leadership of National Youth Council Ikeduru,
Imo State; Honours Award for Exemplary Philanthropic Service in Community
Development by Opinion Research and Communications Inc. in conjunction with Imo
Network of Professionals (2014).
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