Society Gists

Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services has unveiled winners of its entrepreneurship initiative, the Microsoft Lumia 535 “Passion To Empire” campaign, which kicked off Monday, February 16, 2015. They are, Daniel Isa, Emmanuel Ugwueke, Emmanuel Okena, Godwin Benson and Jessica Yahaya.

Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony in Lagos, General Manager, Microsoft Mobile Devices & Services, Joseph Umunakwe, described the “Passion To Empire” campaign as a demonstration of Microsoft’s commitment to helping Entrepreneurs translate their business ideas into reality.

He revealed that, aside the prize money presented and the training program at the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University in Lagos, Microsoft under the Cloudprenuer project would be offering the Top 1000 that are into technology business the opportunity of taking advantage of its cloud service at no cost.

On the Lumia brand, Head, Marketing, West Africa, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, Olumide Balogun, stated that the Lumia brand of phones are stylish and perfectly designed for entrepreneurs who want to do more on the go.

With thousands of entries received, Judges on the campaign, made up of top Nigerian beauty entrepreneur, Tara Fela-Durotoye, entertainment mogul and Founder of the Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori and founding Partner of leading Careers and Jobs website, Jobberman, Opeyemi Awoyemi had an uphill task shortlisting for the Top 15.

Speaking on behalf of the Judges, Tara said, “Lots of the ideas came from technology, but we also saw ideas from the Agriculture sector and services industry. Initially, the idea was to select the Top 15 to pitch their ideas, however, there were some good ones we could not push aside. The truth is that, Nigeria has a bright future with the kind of minds that we interacted with during the campaign.”

The winners got cash prizes of N3.5million each, including skills and acquisition training sessions at the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) in Pan Atlantic University.

CEO, Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori, General Manager, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, Joseph Umunakwe; Winner #MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign, Jessica Yahaya; CEO, House of Tara, Tara Fela-Durotoye; and Co-founder Jobberman, Opeyemi Awoyemi at the Press Conference announcing the 5 winners of the campaign, which took place recently in Lagos.

CEO, House of Tara, Tara Fela-Durotoye; General Manager, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, Joseph Umunakwe; Winner #MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign, Daniel Isa; Co-founder Jobberman, Opeyemi Awoyemi and CEO, Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori