The Nation Newspaper

Tag: beautiful

  • Here comes UNILAG’s most beautiful girl

    Here comes UNILAG’s most beautiful girl

    Damilare Babajide, a 400-Level Law student, has emerged the most beautiful girl at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). She defeated 14 others to win a brand new Toyota Matrix in the pageant organised by the Conference of Faculty Presidents in collaboration with Sulcata Entertainment. CHARLES AGU (200-Level Mass Communication) reports.

    Last Sunday evening, the place to be for students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) was the Indoor Sport Hall. The expansive hall could not contain the students, who flocked there to witness the coronation of Miss UNILAG.

    The students described the show as the biggest social event on the campus this semester. It was organised by the Council of Faculty Presidents (CFP) in collaboration with Sulcata Entertainment.

    It all started with a red carpet reception, where guests and contestants spoke to reporters about the event. No fewer than 15 female undergraduates participated in the contest.

    The pageant was boring at first but the contestants brought colour to the show when they appeared on stage for a group dance. Walking elegantly amid applause by the audience, the girls displayed choreographed dance steps.

    Popular hip-hop artistes led by Burna Boy and Run Town entertained the students. There were also campus artistes, who doled out rocking vibes to the audience members’ delight.

    The contestants were called out one after the other for the stage act, during which they sang and danced to showcase their musical talents. They did pantomime, stage drama and vocal renditions . One played the keyboard.

    The nation’s rich culture was also on display. The contestants appeared in attires peculiar to their culture.

    Clad in beautifully-designed gowns, the girls, one after the other, took to the runway for the judges and audience members’ assessment.

    Then, it was time for elimination. After a unanimous verdict, five of the girls were shortlisted for the final round.

    The five contestants were grilled by judges. Asked why she joined the contest, Damilare Babajide, a 400-Level Law student, said she was in the competition to realise her dreams to empower women, drawing applause from the audience.

    There was pindrop silence as the judges read their verdicts on each contestant. At the end, Damilare was announced winner. She was presented with a brand-new Toyota Matrix. She also won several endorsements from entertainment firms to start her pet project.

    Yaggy Energie, a youth empowerment group, promised to give her N100,000 maintenance fees for the running of her programmes.

    Adaobi Nkemadu, a Distance Learning Institute student, and Sarah Itoje, a Sandwich student, were the first and second runners-up.

    Damilare, who remained dazed several minutes after she emerged winner, said: “It still feels strange, like it has not happened yet. I am still trying to find my voice because I never believed I could win this pageant even though I have everything it takes to win. The feat means a whole lot to me; it is an opportunity to create a better environment for myself and girls out there. It also means new opportunities for me.”

    Asked what her pet project would be, she said: “I will create a platform to bring women together and make them realise their latent abilities.”

    If girls understand that they have potential to affect our existence in positive ways, she said, the world would be a better place.

    Consolation prizes were presented to other contestants. The runners-up received smart phones, which were donated by Techno Mobile. The first runner-up was given free taxi vouchers for one month. Others got Techno gift bags.

    When students were asked who among the contestants would have been their choice as Miss UNILAG, they unanimously chose Ifeoluwa Olaniyi from the Department of Environmental Science. She was presented with Galaxy Tablet by an online retail store, Regal Buyer.

     

  • Youth market as beautiful bride

    Youth market as beautiful bride

    In those days, manufacturers, bankers and others did not attach much importance to the youth market, also called the Gen-Next. However, this perception has changed. To drive growth, top brands have realised how vital this market is to their brands’ sustainability, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    Before now, practitioners in banking, telecoms, FCMGs and other sectors held in high esteem the older generation of consumers more than the youth, also referred to as Generation Next.

    There is a reason for this.The older people are believed to be the decision makers of purchases, and over the years, many brands rode on their shoulders to gain greater brand equity and market share.

    But gradually, the tide is moving as brands are beginning to eye the Generation Next to position for future competition.

    “Parents believe giving teens access to phones could make them lose concentration in school while giving them access to operate a bank account sounds bad despite that in the olden days parents encouraged their children to save through the mould box approach.

    “Now, brand managers are targeting this group. Banks are designing products for them, telecoms are designing trendy offerings that appeal to them and they are becoming important in brand strategy crafting,” a brand expert said.

    This development is becoming more apparent in the banking and telecoms sector, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), where they have carried the youth along in their products and communications. For instance, Coca-Cola, Cadbury and Amazon have been named the most effective brands targeting the youth market both online and offline.

    In a research by VCCP’s new youth agency, Rough Hill, 60 per cent of young people use Cadbury, while 34 per cent follow the brand online. For Amazon, 58 per cent of people use the brand, 33 per cent of them follow it online; also, 59 per cent of young people use the Coca-Cola brand regularly, while 31 per cent follow it online. Hence, their product is tailored to this market unlike banking, telecoms whose products seem to prefer the older people’s market.

    But stung by their failure to recognise the Generation Next market, brands within the banking and telecoms sector are taking the youth market more serious than ever before. The growth of the segment in a larger number and their diverse, individualistic trait has made them no more vulnerable to decisions of the older generation. Hence, marketers are aiming at this market frequently.

    Shockingly, an old generation bank, regarded as one of the ‘Big Three’ has announced its marketing and communication plan for the youth after years of sustained brand equity among corporate and big purse customers. The bank, UBA, long before its merger with STB, was known as an ‘old school bank’, perhaps a reference to its leaning to the older generation.

    But after the merger, The Nation observed that it assumed another perception as a bank meant for the big purse, individual and corporate, leading innovation among the top tier banks.

    “When I couldn’t cope with the bank again, I had to drop it for a new generation bank. I discovered that it was chasing mainly big accounts and not youths like us,” Sumbo Awoyemi, an undergraduate lamented.

    But to avoid losing the youth market, UBA has offered a new window for the Generation Next. During the launch of a new product called a ‘Next-Gen’ account, no doubt, an effort to re-invent and build a new generation of loyal customers, the bank described ‘Next Gen’ as a product tailored to meet the unique needs of teenagers and young adults. The bank, however, added that it was introduced to offer special privileges and opportunities to account holders.

    The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Oduoza, said: “Next Gen is about capturing and engaging the next generation of educated and enlightened professionals, employees, entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, from all walks of life, early in their financial life cycle.”

    The UBA Next-Gen Account was designed to appeal to the educated and enlightened teenagers and young adults from 13 to 34.The product comes with features that fit into the unique needs of customers based on their age.

    “This is a product that grows with the customer from his or her teenage years to, when he or she becomes a young adult. Next Gen is unique in the banking industry because it is not really a product. It is a partnership where the bank is taking on a mentorship role to guide customers into a future life of prosperity, Olaloku explained.

    He also said the Next Gen account was designed to take care of every young person’s unique needs from 13 to 34.

    “It takes care of the unique needs of teenage customers when they are in secondary school through university to when they get their first job, start a family and even consider building their first house. At each of these critical stages in their lives, the Next Gen account provides financial options and opportunities to make life more comfortable for them and their family.”

    On the unique features of the Next Gen account, the Head, Current Accounts and Credit Products, UBA Plc, Iyke Idukpaye, explained that teenagers who open the account will become part of the UBA Teen Fan Club, which offers great opportunities and networking.

    He also explained that as teenagers with a Next Gen account grow and gain admission into tertiary institutions, they will enjoy great mentorship, internships and career advisory reserved only for account holders.

    The benefits of being a Next Gen account holder extends further as owners graduate and prepare for the work or business. At this stage, account holders will enjoy exclusive invitations to job and career fairs as well as entrepreneurship workshops, he added.

    Aside marketing and advertising support, the bank invited students from various secondary and tertiary institutions to attend the launch. Aina Oyawande, a student of University of Lagos, com- mended UBA for introducing the product. He said the incentives attached will make her open an account with the bank.

    Falz, a musician, who addressed the students on the need to imbibe a savings culture, described Next Gen as a “great initiative”, which will attract young entrepreneurs like him to open an account with UBA.

    Also, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, of big brother fame called the product “innovative”, adding that it was great that UBA has developed such an incentive packed product for youths.

  • Making Nigeria truly ‘fascinating’ and beautiful to tourists

    The tourism industry is a very sensitive sector as it relies heavily on certain external factors to thrive. Image, perception and how the rest of the world sees a place are major factors in driving tourism in any country.

    So, a country might have all the best tourist attractions in the world- interesting historical sights, superb landscape and scenery, great culture, festivals, warm, welcoming locals and others. But no tourist will willingly visit if the image of that country is all wrong.

    That is the dilemma of Nigeria. It has all it takes-in terms of culture, natural wonders and a warm people- to be a major tourist destination, attracting people from all over the world and earning the country more money than oil. But with the way the country is perceived by outsiders as a very unsafe, corruption and crime-riddled place, Nigeria is a hard sell, tourism-wise. Ok, the Federal Government through its Ministry of Culture and Tourism is striving to place the country on the world tourism map with its launch recently of a tourism brand identity termed, ‘Fascinating Nigeria.’

    There is nothing wrong with the name. In fact, the brand experts can even call it ‘Mesmerising Nigeria’ or ‘Intoxicating Nigeria’ but what’s the use of a beautiful brand name when other essential factors for attracting tourists are missing? Travelers to a country want to experience something new particularly the local traditions and culture that are usually different from theirs and interact with the locals in a safe, secure environment.

    Now, every Nigerian knows, this is not one of the most secure places on earth. Even we, Nigerians are sometimes scared of our own country and think twice before venturing to certain parts. Not surprising with the insecurity in some parts of the North, kidnappings, armed robbery, ritual killings and other crimes prevalent today.

    The reality is that a tourist who wants to visit Nigeria needs a crocodile-thick skin and an ability to cope with tenth rate infrastructure and social amenities, the type that advanced countries grappled with over a 100 years ago and have since made tremendous progress.

    So, let’s get things right first. Create the enabling environment especially with good infrastructure and security and you won’t need a fancy brand name to draw in the tourists. For the truth is that, from my visits outside the country, many foreigners already find Nigeria a very fascinating though scary place. And one of the things that has aroused this interest in the country is our movie industry, Nollywood.

    Several years ago, a workshop I attended for female journalists in an East African country, gave me an idea of the strong hold these movies have especially on the African continent and the diaspora. When some of the participants at the programme found out I was from Nigeria, they got really excited and started bombarding me with questions. Most of them were related to our movies and some of the stars.

    “How’s Genevieve Nnaji? What about Omotola and Rita Dominic? We want to meet Jim Iyke! Can you link us?” they demanded. In my mind I was like: “Shuo! Wetin you dey find Jim Iyke for? Abi beating dey hungry una?”

    The way they were talking, it was like I live with these movie stars or we interact every day. They don’t understand that these people have their own lives to live and I have mine. And the only time I get to see or even meet them is during work like in one-on-interviews, press briefings or on the red-carpet at shows, movie premieres and other such glamorous events I attend especially during my days covering the fashion and style beat.

    Anyway, one of the participants, I think a Kenyan woman later complained about the ‘negative’ effects of our movies on marriages in her country.

    “Your films are causing marital discords in many homes!” she declared. When I asked why, she explained:

    “Some housewives sit all day watching these films and their house work suffer as a result. They won’t cook or clean the house. And when the husband returns from work in the evening to a dirty house with the wife looking unkempt herself, and no food, what do you expect? Quarrels and fights!”

    From this, Nigeria is lucky to have a powerful tool like a film industry that has created awareness about the country and which can benefit the tourism sector. For instance, through holding film festivals and other movie-related activities that will draw in movie buffs from all over. Movies and (other forms of popular culture like pop music) are powerful medium which create potent images about a country and its people. The images could be good or bad. For instance, many Nigerians got their first perception of America through Hollywood. Through many of their films, America was portrayed as an Eldorado, a land of ‘milk and honey.’ It’s only when you travel there, you realize its all propaganda, that the U.S is not the perfect place or ‘heaven on earth’ it’s portrayed to be.

    So, how do outsiders see us through the eyes of Nollywood? We are viewed as a money-mad, criminally minded, desperate people who would do anything including committing the most heinous crime for money. This perception was got from the themes that run through most of the films such as rituals, voodoo and witchcraft, crime, 419, kidnapping, assassinations, armed robbery, prostitution and others. They don’t understand that just like in other countries, we have good as well as bad Nigerians. They only see the bad ones who taint the rest with their ‘badness.’

    This is something producers, directors and other stakeholders in the sector need to look into so the rest of the world don’t see us as the voodoo capital of the world. I think that title rightfully belongs to our neighbours, Benin Republic where voodoo is like a state religion and there’s even an annual voodoo festival there.

  • Ozobuwa twins: Brilliant, beautiful, yet single

    Among friends, colleagues and associates, Patricia and Felicia Obozuwa are a set of abundantly blessed twins whose profile has since assumed the dimension of folklore. While Patricia, an accounting graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), works at Procter and Gamble, Felicia, also an OAU alumnus, is a top manager at First City Monument Bank.

    Both of them are doing well. They live large and hobnob with the rich and mighty. They are endowed with everything that would make any young man fall in love. Talk about pleasant looks that could charm even a bad-tempered gorilla and lovely figures that could draw tears to the eyes of a eunuch. Add to these their professional accomplishments and what you have is two sisters on top of their game.

    However, to the consternation of their friends who have held them in awe since their school days where their beauty and brilliance always stood them out, the two sisters are yet to add any suffix to their names. This, we learnt, might not be unconnected with their elitist disposition, which tends to scare many men away.

    In spite of this, the Obozuwa twins are not obviously daunted. They have preferred to consolidate on their individual successes and enjoy themselves while their single status lasts.