By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
Today is different. It’s the birthday of Toomuchmoney. He would have jetted off to London to mark it but the pandemic has rooted him in Nigeria. Not to worry, though, because he can make things happen anytime, anywhere, no matter the odds. Call him a volcano, except that he is larger than the Richter scale – for good.
Ambassador Chief Kem Ajieh is 60. It is headline news fit for the front pages. It was at Nduka Obaigbena’s trailblazing magazine THISWEEK that my path crossed with the go-getter then called Kem Ajieh Jr. It took no time at all for all the journalists around to know and reckon with the new sheriff in town. He richly earned the alias “The Best”. Then other sobriquets followed such as “The Master Space Broker.”
On a cool evening, the unstoppable Kem Ajieh would say to me: “The Poet, give me 40 pages of correct prose and I will supply you with 60 pages of adverts.”
Kem Ajieh always delivered. He was so much sought after. In a while, he became larger than Lagos and had to relocate to the Federal Capital at Abuja.
Abuja welcomed Kem Ajieh with wide open arms and a new nickname: “Toomuchmoney!”
Born on July 9, 1960, Ambassador Chief Kem Ajieh is the good life writ large. One of the prized sons of Utagba-Uno in Ndokwa West Local Government Area, Delta State, he took his first degree in Political Science and topped it up with an M.Sc. in Political Economy from the esteemed University of Abuja.
Call him the Papa of the Political Science Department and Ambassador Chief Kem Ajieh will take a bow.
He distinguished himself serving as an SA to President Goodluck Jonathan. He was the Chief Protocol to former First Lady Dr Patience Jonathan.
Kem Ajieh served as a member of the 2011 Presidential inauguration Committee.
He is deservedly influential as the much-consulted Spokesperson of the South-South/South-East Action Group.
“I am the image of the PDP in Abuja,” Ambassador Chief Kem Ajieh proudly stresses.
He is the CEO/Owner of VIP Protocol Ltd, a niche company engaged in Marketing and Protocol Services such as providing drivers and protocol officers for corporate organizations.
Ambassador Chief Kem Ajieh’s VIP Protocol Ltd carters to the protocol need of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“We have been with DPR since 2009 till date,” Kem Ajieh says, swiveling on his super-duper chair. “I own the best protocol service outfit in Abuja. Other corporate organizations and high profile individuals engage and cherish our services.”
The lionized firm is adept at airport pick-and-drop and hotel reservation.
The captain of industry hailed as Toomuchmoney by his many fans is easily one of the best dressed Nigerians in the limelight.
Married to Anne Ngozi from Ozubulu, Anambra State, he is blessed with four boys and two girls.
It is quite understandable that one known as Toomuchmoney has “Making money” as one of his hobbies.
His other hobbies are dancing and table tennis.
Recalling our earlier days in journalism in Lagos, Ambassador Chief Kem Ajieh laughs and says finally: “I have branched out from media brokerage to Political Economy.”