Business

Robots For Christ Wins Nigeria’s Got Talent Season 2

as the group clinch N10m grand prize
Robots for ChristAfter months of endless hard work and commitment, Robots for Christ emerged winners of Africa’s No 1 talent hunt show, Nigeria’s Got Talent.
It was a moment of conquest, happiness and fulfilment for Robots for Christ, a Benin-based entertainment duo and contestants in the season two of the Airtel-sponsored Nigeria’s Got Talent reality show as the 2-man dance group from Benson Idahosa University beat nine other finalists to the N10 Million grand prize.
Robots for Christ was declared the winner by NGT presenter, Andre Blaize at a grand finale held on Saturday, February 8, 2014 which saw Daniel Azuka ‘A-Strings’ emerge second and 9-year-old drummer, David Aduragbemi Adekoya in third place respectively, at the Dream Studios in Lagos
The three celebrity judges, Dan Foster, Kate Henshaw and Yibo Koko and thousands of guests chief among which include the management and staff of Airtel Nigeria, the lead sponsor, management and staff of Optima Media Group, Malta Guinness and members of the media were in attendance.
The occasion lived up to book makers’ billing as the only non-discriminatory reality show per excellence with series of fun-filled, exciting and breath taking performances from the ten finalists who sought to convey a message of unity in diversity and Bash, a stand-up comedian who captivated both guests and audience with rib-cracking jokes.
Speaking in his welcome address, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, while congratulating the finalists for putting in their best, said the foremost telecoms operator shares in the dreams of the Nigerian youths hence the creation of worthwhile platforms such as the NGT to identify, nurture, reward and celebrate the talented.
“As an innovative company, we value talent and will always go any distance to identify and celebrate talented Nigerians. We are extremely delighted to be associated with Nigerian talents because we are passionate about creating credible platforms that celebrate and reward innovation and originality. The Airtel brand is not just red, bold and jazzy but youthful, exciting, unique and full of fun,” he said
The Airtel Chief Executive also reiterated the commitment of the company to the brand vision of becoming the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians.
His word, “We are committed to driving our brand vision of being the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians. As a company, we are passionate about building reputable platforms for the celebration of talented Nigerians, we will continue to support initiatives that will bring excitement and happiness to the door steps of all our stakeholders. We have been consistent in bringing laughter, pure joy, excitement and plenty of fun to the homes of Nigerians through our various platforms”
Ogunsanya also listed some of the other platforms through which Airtel has been bringing excitement to Nigerians homes asides Nigeria’s Got Talent to include, Airtel Rising Stars, Tinsel, partnership with Arsenal Football Club, Big Brother Africa, the Lagos Countdown Festival, CSR-based Adopt-A-School initiative among several others.
In his own speech, the Group Managing Director of Optima Media Group, Rotimi Pedro said the whole idea of the multi-talent reality is to create a platform that would help to discover talented individuals, put them on stage in the hope they would cut a career for themselves.
He also revealed that Got Talent franchise has a global franchise currently in 53 countries making it the most wide travelled and most watched by households.
Top dignitaries on the bill of Airtel who accompanied the CEO-Ogunsanya and his wife in gracing the event include Maurice Newa, Chief Commercial Officer; Mrs. Segun Ogunsanya; Jibril Saba, Director of Human Resources; Obinna Aniche, Director, Brand and Marketing; Nitin Anand, Products and Services; Ajay Bakshi, Director, Customer Service Delivery; Rama Krishna, Director, Supply Chain; Dinesh Balsingh, Director, Segment and U&R; Rahul Chaudhari, Director, Marketing and Revenue Planning; Adebayo Osinowo, Regional Operations Director, Lagos; Wole Abu, GM Acquisitions; Ifeanyi Egbuawa, Senior Manager, Brand Assets, and, Adefemi Adeniran, Head of PR.
The Airtel NGT 2 train had successfully combed the nation for talents for months beginning with regional auditions in eight cities across the nation followed by theatre auditions in Lagos from which the top 40 were selected to participate in the semi-finals in groups of eight over a period of five weeks with two best acts from each group going through to the finals.
The other finalists include Laff Doctor, David, KoredeOdukale, Daniel ‘8 Strings’ Azuka, C.I.D Squad, D’ Flex, Elevators NG, Praize Puppetsand D Naturals.
“We can’t express how we feel right now. We are just over joyed and are sincerely grateful to Nigerians for believing in us and voting for us,” said the excited duo.
“From their impressive costumes to their very well synchronized dance moves, the Robots for Christ were one act that always impressed us,” said a proud Yibo Koko.
The show commenced on October 9 with nation-wide auditions in select cities including Abuja, Port- Harcourt, Asaba, Calabar, Enugu, Benin, Ibadan and Lagos. The semi-finals opened on December 29 while the finals held weekend of February 8, 2014.
It is the only talent competition show that is open to any age and any talent, with auditions taking the show to numerous cities in search of a one-of-a-kind gifted or skilled individual.
The grand finale witnessed performances from Nigeria’s Got Talent Season 1 winner, Amarachi Uyanne, Bash the comedian and many more. Robots for Christ will be joining season1 winner Amarachi Uyanne as Airtel Ambassadors.
Nigeria’s Got Talent is sponsored by Airtel and is ably supported by Malta Guinness, Tetrazzinni, Soul Mate Hair Products and Nig.info among other partners.
 Robots of Christ with Airtel, Malta Guiness and RBF managements
CEO/MD, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, Winners of Nigeria’s Got Talent (NGT) season 2, Robots for Christ, Head of Marketing Communication, Malta Guinness, Femi Adelusi and Group MD, Optima Media Group (OMG), Rotimi Pedro at the grand finale of the NGT 2 at the Dream Studios in Lagos at the weekend.