Nineteen year-old Temidayo Omoniyi, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, recently emerged winner of the One Mic Campus Tour, after an electrifying performance at the grand finale of the music talent hunt sponsored by leading telecom service provider, Airtel Nigeria.
The ND 1 Business Administration student who is popularly called ‘Zlatan Ibile’, defeated five other finalists in the keenly contested grand finale held at the OK Centre, Ibara GRA, Abeokuta, to cart home the star prize, a brand new KIA Picanto, as well as a full artiste makeover and recording deal with ID Cabasa’s Coded Tunes.
For over two hours, the six contestants who made it to the finals held the audience captive with a series of breath-taking lyrical performances. The panel of judges comprising music producer, ID Cabasa; versatile rapper and singer, Reminisce, and DJ Jamalot assessed the finalists using a range of criteria which include, appearance, stage performance, connection with the audience, punch line, wordplay and creativity. The contestants were also rated by their performance at acapella, freestyle and their individual studio songs.
Congratulating Zlatan Ibile on his victory, Airtel’s Regional Operations Director, Lagos, Mr. Femi Oshinlaja noted that he proved himself to be deserving of the grand prize, saying his performance and lyrical prowess earned him the confidence of the Airtel One Mic Judges.
In his words: “Airtel Nigeria is proud to create a unique platform for Nigerian youths to showcase the abundant talents which this country is blessed with. It is for this reason that we have remained committed to our goal of seeking opportunities to promote youth empowerment and development. The Airtel One Mic is a testimony to our quest to discover and support raw talent and also support them to achieve their aspirations.”
Other members of Airtel team present at the event include Dokun Oye, General Manager, Enterprise Operations; Kunle Adegboyega, Zonal Business Manager; Segun Aderinokun, Regional Marketing Manager; Lotanna Anajemba, Regional Trade Marketing Manager and Felix Ofulue, Manager, Internal Communications.
While expressing his appreciation to Airtel Nigeria for the reward and opportunity, a highly elated Zlatan Ibile, who could not contain his emotion, thanked Airtel Nigeria for its constant support for students in the tertiary institutions and most especially for the talent hunt, which has helped set him on the path towards achieving his dreams through music.
“I am overwhelmed with joy today for emerging winner of the talent hunt; I thank Airtel Nigeria for this initiative. It is an encouragement to me that I can rise to the peak of my music career. I am very grateful to Airtel,” he said.
The audience, which comprised students from participating institutions and other tertiary institutions in Ogun State, had a swell time as they celebrated with the winner, while some of them also won free airtime and other souvenirs courtesy of the Telco.
The talent hunt, which commenced in Ogun State on May 5, 2014, was aimed at discovering and promoting musical talents from tertiary institutions in Nigeria. This initiative is in line the company’s commitment to consistently encourage and empower Nigerian youths to achieve their dreams through various platforms, including music.
L-R, Airtel’s Regional Marketing Manager, Mr. Segun Aderinokun; winner of Airtel One Mic talent-hunt show, ‘Zlatan Ibile’ Temidayo Omoniyi of MAPOLY; Regional Operations Director, Lagos, Mr. Femi Oshinlaja and General Manager, Enterprise Operations, Mr. Dokun Oye at the grand finale of Airtel One Mic talent hunt show held in Ogun State.