Stars wow as Egeonu wins Etisalat’s million Dollar

It was an evening of good music and ribs cracking comedy at the grand finale of Etisalat’s 9jillions game show. The tantalizing experience, which has been all over Nigeria in a five month long series of regional game shows that saw thousands of Nigerians winning high end phones as well as millions of Naira, finally came to an exhilarating end on Friday, November 6, 2009, with the emergence of Kizito Egeonu, a medical student of University of Jos, winning the grand prize of one million Dollar. The company thus fulfilled its promise to make one Nigerian’s dream come true with the award of the singular most impressive individual cash prize in the history of promotions in Nigeria and Africa. Also, apart from the grand prizewinner, the company also doled out one million Naira each, to 34 other subscribers, who were lucky to participate at the game show.

The emergence of the million-dollar winner was the peak of the promo, which commenced in June and had produced over 40 millionaires at the regional game shows held in eight cities across the nation. Over four thousand subscribers were also rewarded with high-end phones in the “Win two phones per hour for 90 days” segment of the promotion.

Elated Mr. Egeonu, a member of family team of four, who emerged winner of the star prize money, slugged it out with nine other teams, which also got one million Naira (N1m), each in the grand finale of the game show. Egeonu’s team qualified for the final as the Kaduna regional champions.

Speaking about the promo from inception, Etisalat CEO, Mr. Steven Evans said that not many people believed that they would give out such an amount of money, the first in the history of promotions in Nigeria and indeed Africa. According to him, “When the promo started, many cast doubts over whether we would indeed give away one million dollars. The answer is standing right here in front of you; Egeonu, is a living proof that Etisalat keeps its promises all the time. A lot of Nigerians have also chosen to keep faith with us in the one year of our operations; our subscriber base is now two million and growing fast, our brand is recognizable all over Nigeria, subscribers on our network have had the quality of their lives improved through the various cash prizes that we gave out during this long promo culminating today in the giving away of one million dollar, the biggest cash prize in not just Nigeria but Africa.”
As part of activities marking the grand finale, which held at the expansive Landmark Village, Lekki, Lagos, leading music stars that included: Wande Coal, Etisalat’s ambassador, Banky W and Eldee, all thrilled the ecstatic guests. Live music and good comedy also flowed at the well-organized event, which held amid razzmatazz and glitz.