For Kelvin Onumah, popularly known as Abiriba First Son, giving to humanity is an act of service. Through his Kelvin Jombo Foundation, the CEO of Sublime Group has been championing the empowerment of the youth, women and children, Precious Ugwuzor reports
“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.” This quote attributed to Helen Keller typifies Kelvin Onumah, a silent achiever in his own right, who has for a decade and more, put smiles on the faces of people.
Popularly known as Abiriba First Son, Onumah is Chief Kelvin Jombo Founder and the CEO of Sublime Luxury Homes Ltd, Sublime Hotel & Apartment Sublime Industries Ltd, as well as Kelvin Jombo Foundation, who lives by the ethos that “Humanity is Greater than Status”.
Onumah, who is no doubt a successful businessman who has carved a niche for himself in real estate, clothing & textiles importation, Forex Trading, and hospitality businesses, has a daughter (Nene Jombo).
According to him, the act of giving back or devoting one’s time to support those around them is extremely beneficial, both for you and the community.
Essentially, giving back for him is a great way to get to know his community and its citizens, which eventually makes you a grassroot person. “When you volunteer, you have the opportunity to meet lots of new people, working alongside individuals who also care about improving their surroundings will allow you to broaden your network of friends,” he opined.
Philanthropy
For his immediate community Abiriba in Abia State and even beyond, his philanthropy is legendary as he has impacted positively in their lives through Kelvin Jombo Foundation.
The foundation is a leading peer-philanthropists network of social investors committed to advancing international courses in Africa. The objective of the foundation is to empower the youth, women and children across the continent to catalyse economic growth that will engender poverty eradication and ensuring job creation.
Since the establishment of the Kelvin Jombo Foundation, it has lived up to the vision and mission of founding it by creating hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, alleviating poverty and other developmental projects such as scholarship schemes, medicare, road construction, market developments and others.
According to Jombo, “At Kelvin Jombo Foundation, we believe the private sector’s role is critical for Africa’s development and that the private sector must create both social and economic wealth to enhance national development.”
Just recently, the Kelvin Jombo Foundation flagged off the reconstruction of a market (Affia Nkwo) in Abiriba. The flag-off ceremony was witnessed by the Enachioken in council led by the Enachioken of Abiriba HRM Eze Kalu kalu Ogbu IV.
On why he ventured into rebuilding the market, he said the market which reminds him of his humble beginning, made him promise to construct a modern market with every necessary facility.
Cushioning Effects of COVID-19
Health they say is wealth. To cushion the effect of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Kelvin Jombo through his foundation distributed Personal Protective Equipment to health centers in Abiriba.
Just recently too, Jombo also distributed palliatives worth millions of naira to his people. The young Abiriba entrepreneur realised that just like COVID-19, hunger is also a global menace and also went ahead to distribute food and agro empowerment palliatives such as over 600 Bags of five kilograms of fertilizers, 1,000 bundles of cassava stems, 1,000 bags of five kilograms beans, 3,000 bags of five kilograms of rice, 2,500 tubers of yam, 100 cartons of organic maize seedlings, 100 cartons of organic okro seedlings, 100 cartons of tomato seedlings, 1000 pieces of sanitizers, 1000 cartons of face masks and 300 cartons of noodles.
The disabled people in Abiriba were also visited with some cash gifts, while Abiriba Student Union also received a token of support.
For his people and beneficiaries of his philanthropy, his kindness is second to none, which perhaps explains why youths from Abiriba see him as a role model, a mentor and a leader. For the philanthropist, his love for his people and the need to empower them are too dear to his heart to die off anytime soon.
