He is sedate but highly fecund. You cannot catch him indulge in the mundane. He does not also get involved in mendacity in any form and hue. This disposition is nested in his background: with a father who was the first university graduate in his Ewatto village in Edo State and a mother who was a head mistress, his upbringing was expectedly spartan.
The sharply-focused parentage played a significant role in his adulthood: with father and mother gone already to take their deserved rest in the hereafter, he now dares the elements of nature to do uncommon things from which he is garnering a string of successes-most importantly preserving the legacies of his parents-the good name and the communitarian posture and identity.
His trajectory, thus far, is anchored in the offerings of the Greek Middle Platonists philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist and priest, Plutarch: “It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.” This is the essential summation of the burgeoning South Africa-based intrepid Nigerian business investor, Kenn Ayere, who is journalism’s gift to the business world.
Journalism provided the platform on which Kenn launched himself to the world: association with men and women, some of the best minds in the world. In the process, a world view of business, which was long nurtured and harboured in the inner recesses of his mind, further mutated and found pragmatic manifestation in faraway South Africa where he was posted to serve as the Bureau Chief of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
His response to the demands of his environment-the purpose to carve a niche and offer some forms of service to society and God-would define a significant intersection in his luminous era. On this score, Kenn borrowed a leaf from an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer and inventor, Achimedes of Syracuse, who is always quoted to have once said: “Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.”
To be sure, Kenn remains grateful to God and the journalism profession through which Divinity provided the opportunity and pathway to his current business endeavours in South Africa from where he has begun a critical reconnection with his autochthonous community in Nigeria. In a short chat with THE CONCLAVE (online newspaper), Kenn expressed some profound sense of nostalgia that underscored his strong intercourse with journalism. Read him: “Journalism will always be in my blood. That was my foundation and what I still have passion for. I was the Bureau Chief of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, for Southern Africa, for four and a half years, having served in various states in Nigeria.” He would later, after venturing into business, publish the African Envoy newspaper in SA, which circulated nationally.
He shared with THE CONCLAVE the motivation behind his foray into investments in South Africa: “I always had the entrepreneurial drive in me from childhood. After journalism, I went into retail petroleum in SA. I was the first Nigerian to get the Chevron franchise in SA. You also mentioned Hombaze African Cuisine in your comments. Yes, Hombaze is 21 this year. It is one of the most prominent African-themed restaurant groups in SA.” Unlike many people, Kenn is an archetypical village boy, well immersed in the pristine nature of the idyllic Ewatto community, with all its atmospherics and nuances of the rustic setting. Yes, the “shuttles” then were between Benin, the state capital, and his village. Today, Benin,.which gifted him a beautiful wife, is a beneficiary of Kenn’s decision to reconnect with his home through significant investments.
Consider his rationalization and/or motivation about his Benin investments: “I have always believed that it is only a mad man who goes to the market and sleeps there. All normal people will know when to return home after trading. I have been in SA for 28 years. SA is home to me, too, but Edo is home – my place of origin. When I bought plots of land in Ofunmwengbe, I realized that there was no standard school in the community. It was always my dream to build a school because I believe in the values of education. I named it Ayere Education Centre to sustain the legacy of my late father, M.A. Ayere, who was the first university graduate from Ewatto Kingdom and my late mum, who retired as a school headmistress. Besides the emotional attachments to these investments, there was also the desire to bring home some of the experiences one had been exposed to, having lived elsewhere for almost three decades.
■ Lifestyle Value Mall in Benin- a new addition to his investment due for inauguration on September 17, 2024
“The food market in Lifestyle Value Mall was included in the project to introduce elements of hygiene into our shopping experience. The food market will be an upgrade from what we are used to. A situation where raw food and meat, poultry, etc., are unduly exposed to flies and filth is quite unhygienic. We introduced a butchery and market, where all food items will be well preserved and presented. Our people deserve something better. We have been used to doing things in a particular way for too long. We want to join all others who are rendering services to uplift the living standards of our people.”
■ Job opportunities for Edo people
According to Kenn, “Lifestyle Value Mall will employ a minimum 100 staff members directly at take-off. Several suppliers and vendors will be employed indirectly by this venture. Our own way of supporting the efforts to reduce unemployment in my place of origin. We intend to grow the brand and improve on what we started with in due course. I believe our people deserve the best, and everyone who is in a position to take at least one person out of unemployment should do so. I could do all these where I currently reside, but I do believe that in all that life offers, one should not forget his roots.”
Remarkably, Kenn’s endeavours are rooted in the place of prayers and in his commitment to the service of the Almighty God. A devout Christian of the Pentecostal hue, Kenn, in 2019, singlehanded, built a massive church building-Divine Chapel of Praise and Worship, which he donated to his Ofunmwengbe community in Benin in 2019. He is, in no small measure, a wise man. No man or woman does business with God and fails. Kenn has, on this score, applied his heart unto wisdom.
■ Felicitations
The staff and management of THE CONCLAVE (online newspaper) felicitate Kenn Ayere on his new investment -Lifestyle value Mall in Benin, which is billed for inauguration on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 12 noon.
Many of his friends have also taken to the social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp, to commend his investment drive and to congratulate him on the new value addition to the Kenn Ayere brand.
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