Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Nigerians within the age range of 13 to 50 years will jostle to win N15 million prize money in a talent hunt reality television show billed to take place across the six geopolitical zones.
A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Bless World Foundation in partnership with Youth Cultural Association of Nigeria (Youthcan) told newsmen at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday that the show is targeted at empowering Nigerian youths in areas of agriculture and vocational training.
An official of the agency, Opeyemi Babatunde, revealed that while the overall winner will smile to the bank with a whopping N5 million, the first and second runners-up will be rewarded with N2 million and N1 million respectively.
“We are organising a television show called credit to fame talent hunt and business reality tv show targeted at discovering young talents in Nigeria.
“We want to discover, nurture and promote young minds and entrepreneurs in Nigeria within the age range of 13 to 50 years into areas such as in music, acting, comedy and professional skills like agriculture, fashion, ICT, among others.
“This programme is endorsed by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN). The mission is to discover and nurture talents. We want to create employment, build capacity and alleviate poverty.
“The eligible participants are those that have talents and skills to showcase and must be within the age range of 13 to 50.
“We have reputable brand ambassadors like AY who is the chief host and MC of this event and Ebube Nwagbo, Nollywood actress.
“The show will take place in all the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria with centres in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Owerri, Bayelsa. This is not a show to reward one or two participants because up to 125 participants will be rewarded.
“Since SMEDAN will be sponsoring, every participant who will be trained in their areas of talent. Certificates will equally be issued after the training.
“For the winners, we a whopping N15 million prize money has been earmarked for grabs for three winners. The first will get N5 million plus endorsement deals.
“The first runners-up will get N2 million cash plus an affirmation deal while the second runners-up gets N1 million cash with access to microcredit loan facilities. Other 120 finalists will go home with N50,000 cash reward,” Opeyemi noted.