BARELY months after successfully holding the maiden edition of Nigeria Football Pitch Award, Shina Phillips, is the CEO of Matchmakers Consult on the march again with an all-encompassing award on the continental sphere.
“ The word lamp is the major reason behind the idea of the LAMPS award,” said Phillips matter-of-factly.“It is about those who have brought about positive change to the continent of Africa.
“They are vehicles that convey light and knowledge; it is about the name and what it means. It is about those who are innovative and are agents of change in the different categories as it is defined.
“LAMPS as being conceived stands for: Legends of Arts, Management, Politics, Science and Sports. This will promote healthy competition and inspire many to make the difference and we really want to make a bold statement with this,” noted Phillips.
Phillips is indeed a man of many parts full of ideas, he started Matchmakers Consult in 2007 and its first major event was the NFF/FIFA players’ agent workshop. He’s also a FIFA- licensed agent. In the 1990s he started out early in conjunction with the late chief Ajaiyi Adun to package the Contractor Magazine Awards to deserving individuals in the construction industry. He was about the first person to institute awards for the now thriving Nollywood industry and he has yet to look back. He has been involved in the 10-year-old Security Watch Africa Awards from inception it is being involved at some levels in Nollywood awards way back. His story is incomplete without mentioning attempts at Nollywood’s awards. He initiated an award for Veterans in the movie and stage industry.
“I’m not interested in given out awards to people because it is not an ego trip,” affirmed Phillips who caught his teeth in journalism before venturing to other things. “I like to reward excellence and celebrate hard work especially to create a platform for people who do extraordinary things to be rewarded and this is not only about footballers alone.
“I like to appreciate people who have used their knowledge and talents in other spheres of human endeavours to benefit the society. Some of my friends called me Mr. Crazy and one of the people who call me Mr. Crazy is Mr.Ibu of Nollywood because of the things I do.
“My motivation comes from God because he is the giver of these ideas and he has always provided the enabling environment and partner s to make them work, “he noted as he speaks on sundry issues. Excerpts…
How successful was the inaugural edition of the Nigeria Football Pitch Awards held last year?
As an organiser, it would be difficult for me to judge ourselves but what we set out to do was basically a well- managed event that would be a reference point and on the basis of that, I think we did our best. We were concerned about organising a credible football award for the first time in the history of Nigerian football. It was the first time we were able to bring all the stakeholders under one umbrella of the governing body of football in Nigeria which is the NFF. Essentially, we the organisers and the NFF were able to organise an event that was adjudged as very transparent beyond the glamour and politicking that often characterised other awards. To ensure transparency, we brought in BOD International which is the fifth auditing firm in the world and that say so much about the extent we went in order to organise the event which has been adjudged by everyone as the best in recent time. Be that as it may, I think it’s the media and the public who would be able to score us well but I’m delighted with the positive things being said about the Pitch Awards.
So what are the arrangements being put in place towards the next edition of the awards?
Right from the outset, we planned to do things differently and that was why we went all the way to sensitive the press and the public about the kind of things we wanted to do. We even had a pre award night called The night of Stars which was hugely successful and we’ll commended by the NFF because that was the first time you had something as big like that before the real award night because we brought the best of Nollywood and Nigerian football together, Basically what I’m saying is that, we are taking stock and we are not going to rest on our oars. We had a successful outing last time and we are not going to let go on integrity because when everybody knows there’s transparency, there would be great followers of the awards.
Generally, what impact do the Pitch Awards have on stakeholders and the Nigerian football industry?
The Pitch Awards was the first time we had the NFF endorsed such from the start b because they believe in our capacity to deliver a successful and transparent event. Apart from this, those who won the last time knew that they were adjudged the best in a transparent manner and would strive to do their best all the time. Everybody wants to b e appreciated and to whom much is given, much is expected and it would spur them to o greater heights.
Why is Shina Phillips always interested in handling out awards to people?
I considered this as a privilege and would same unashamedly; God has been good to me by giving me so many ideas to work on. It has always been my desire to appreciate people and it goes without saying that one must really have an appreciative heart in order to see the good in other people. I have embedded this in my business because I love to appreciate people and very soon, we are going to do something on a bigger scale with the LAMPS Awards.
What again are the LAMPS Awards and what is the idea behind this?
I’m a very restless person but I must thank God for always giving me these brilliant ideas and he has gifted me again with this idea called the LAMPS Award which is going to be a celebration of the best in Africa. I love Africa as a continent and I had been looking for this opportunity to celebrate the best on the continent not only in sport but in all endeavours. Africa has great potentialities but it seems that we have not had the great tonic to spur others to bring out their best for the continent and this is one of the areas that the LAMPS awards would be taken care of. For Africa to be bigger and greater, the people must begin to celebrate themselves because in other climes, heroes, heroines and legends are usually celebrated but this is not always the case in Africa. It is usually contentious and I had this thought about what can endeared unity, excellence and foster healthy competition amongst the Black race. I thought about what I could give that would resonates through the globe and God gave me this idea about LAMPS Awards. This is an award that is designed to showcase the brightest lights on the continent in key areas of arts, management, politics, life and sports. Of course, there are several award ceremonies on the continent but definitely, this is going to be a different because there is no single award on the continent that brings everybody under the same umbrella where they would be collectively honoured and celebrated. The LAMPS award would expectedly fill in this void and on an annual basis, bring the best of the continent together and honour them in a grand ceremony.
The inspiration for LAMPS awards is also due to the fact that the African continent has produced a legend of all times in person of the late South African President Mandela who was indeed a beacon of hope for human race. I think Africa can produce great people and as we recognise these people, they would be encouraged to bring out their best. Already, we are working with great institutes across the continent to mid-wife the award. African is indeed a continent that light truly shines upon and we can make the LAMPS awards something really great.
The process is already going because nominees are already being indentified by a high level committee that is already being put in place to ensure a very transparent and credible award.
Do you already have a venue in mind for the event?
There is a committee already in place for that and personally, I’m in interested in Johannesburg but I know there is the possibility of holding it in Abuja and of course, we have Ethiopia in mind which is the headquarter of the African Union. But I know the committee would still put this into vote and pick the best venue because we are looking forward to it holding sometime in December 2014 or thereabout.
