Nigerian Idol hosted a dazzling night of food, fun and fanfare as they launched the top 12 contestants for the premier talent hunt show on
Saturday, 16 February, 2012. It was the first night the contestants were officially performing together, and along with celebrity guests
performers Lynxxx, Tiwa Savage and season 2 winner Mercy Chinwo, the newly revealed contestants made sure that the Civic Centre in Victoria
Island was the place to be on Saturday evening.

Ill Rhymz was host extraordinaire for the unveiling, which was a celebratory night as the top 12 contestants officially took to the stage
for the first time and serenaded the crowd with love songs that were the perfect backdrop for the romantic Valentine’s mood of the week. The
talented singers showed off their spectacular vocals and the gathered audience that included celebrities like singer Nneka, Michelle Dede,,
Lala Akindoju, OC Ukeje, Toke Makinwa and more, alongside the judges of the show, Femi Kuti, Yinka Davies and Jeffrey Daniel, sat back and
enjoyed the show as they dined.

  “We know we have got the best talent we can find,” said Rotimi Pedro, Group Managing Director of the show’s production company Optima Media
Group (OMG),  as he spoke about the contestants selected for the current third season of the show. He also extended a word of gratitude to the
lead sponsor of the show, telecoms giant Etisalat, who have supported all three seasons of the show so far, and Pepsi, for being an Associate
sponsor on Nigerian Idol.

The CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, was also effusive about his praise for the show as he highlighted the partnership Etisalat and
Nigerian Idol had forged over the past three seasons. He said, “You need to watch. [The contestants] are all hungry to be the third Nigerian
Idol…The quality of talent is bigger, brighter and better.”

The performances were the crowning jewel of the evening, starting off with Lynxxx, who, with the help of the live band, seduced the crowd with
a knock out live performance. Tiwa Savage sang a touching tribute to late singer and performer Goldie Harvey, before she performed some of
her most loved hits.

And then came the most exciting part of the evening: the twelve successful season 3 competitors were unveiled. Singing ‘No One Like You’
by P-Square, the talented group were luminous as they made their stage debut. That was not all for the evening, as the contestants then formed
more intimate groups and sang again. Immaculate Victoria, Abasiakan, Joe Emmal, and Kome sang ‘A Whole New World’, from the Walt Disney
animation, ‘Aladdin’. Then Jay Feel, Danny Angus, Debbie Rise and Amara performed ‘Oyi (I Dey Catch Cold)’ by Flavour. Moses, Efezino, Vicci and
Sefeeyat were the last to perform for the evening, singing George Benson’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You’.

The night was brought to an explosive end as season 2 winner, Mercy Chinwo, brought the house to its feet and started an impromptu party
with her infectious vocals.

Now, the contestants have been unveiled and have had their first top 12 performances, which aired on Sunday, 17 February. Who will be the first
two contestants Nigeria will choose to evict from the show?

Watch Nigerian Idol on Saturday on NTA at 3:00pm, Sound City and ONTV at 7:00pm, Silverbird at 7:30pm, Superscreen at 6:30pm and TVC at
9:30pm, to watch the results show. Then, catch all-new performances on Sunday on NTA at 3:30pm, Sound City and ONTV at 7:00pm, Silverbird at
8:00 pm, TVC at 8:30 pm and Superscreen at 9:30pm  to watch the contestants have their shot at the grand prize.

The power to decide the fate of one of the contestant lies in the hands of you, Nigeria, so vote by texting the number of your favourite
contestant to 33680, from any network. You can also vote for a contestant by dialling his/her number of any using an Etisalat line.

The top prize for this season is worth a superb $100,000, in which the lucky winner will get: 7.5 million naira in cash, a recording contract
also worth 7.5 million naira, and a brand new SUV. Runner-ups will not be left out as they will be given prizes to the tune of 10 million
naira.

Visit www.nigerianidol.com for compelling back story videos, juicy behind the scene news, and get a taste of what is coming. For the latest
information, Like the Nigerian Idol Facebook page www.facebook.com/NigIdol, and follow Nigeria Idol on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/NigerianIdol, and you could be eligible to win some fantastic prizes, including the opportunity to be live in the studio for
a recording.

Nigerian Idol is the biggest music show across Africa and is brought to you by Etisalat, in association with Pepsi and supported by Beat FM.

Fresh off their electrifying debut and their guerrilla-style flash mob in the last week, the Nigerian Idol top 12 contestants took to the stage
on Sunday, 17 February, and performed for the first time to compete for your votes. The question of the moment was: would the top 12 be able to
live up to their hype and win Nigeria over to their corner?

This week featured the contestants performing hits from the last two years, and while there were some ups and downs, overall, the Idol
hopefuls had a great night as they broke in the bigger, brighter Nigerian Idol stage. The strongest crowd-pleasing performance of the
night belonged to none other than Jay Feel, whose weak vocal performance was overshadowed by his domineering stage presence. Danny Angus changed
his look, ditching the accountant for a more urban feel as he took to the stage, to the delight of the in-studio audience.

Rapper iLLBLISS was the guest judge for the evening, and while he gave thoughtful critiques to many of the contestants, he was largely positive
about the performances that he saw throughout the show. It was not all hearts and flowers for the contestants however, and more than one
contestant took a beating from the judges when it came to their vocal performances.

It is now up to the audiences at home to decide who they want to see stick around for the top 10. Who will they save?

Watch Nigerian Idol on Saturday on NTA at 3:00pm, Sound City and ONTV at 7:00pm, Silverbird at 7:30pm, Superscreen at 6:30pm, Real star TV on
Star Times at 9:00pm and TVC at 9:30pm, to watch the results show. Then,catch all-new performances on Sunday on NTA at 3:30pm, Sound City and
ONTV at 7:00pm, Silverbird at 8:00 pm, TVC at 8:30 pm,Real star TV on Star Times at 9:00pm and Superscreen at 9:30pm  to watch the contestants
have their shot at the grand prize.

The power to decide the fate of one of the contestant lies in the hands of you, Nigeria, so vote by texting the number of your favourite
contestant to 33680, from any network. You can also vote for a contestant by dialling his/her number of any using an Etisalat line.

The top prize for this season is worth a superb $100,000, in which the lucky winner will get: 7.5 million naira in cash, a recording contract
also worth 7.5 million naira, and a brand new SUV. Runner-ups will not be left out as they will be given prizes to the tune of 10 million
naira.

Visit www.nigerianidol.com for compelling back story videos, juicy behind the scene news, and get a taste of what is coming. For the latest
information, Like the Nigerian Idol Facebook page www.facebook.com/NigIdol, and follow Nigeria Idol on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/NigerianIdol, and you could be eligible to win some fantastic prizes, including the opportunity to be live in the studio for
a recording.

Nigerian Idol is the biggest music show across Africa and is brought to you by Etisalat, in association with Pepsi and supported by Beat FM.

The partners at RED Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams have made the Forbes list of Africa’s 30 best entrepreneurs under 30.

According to the story, made available online on February 23, 2013, “Mr Jideonwo and Mr Williams are co-founders and Partners of Red Nigeria- a leading full service media-content, communication and development company in Nigeria. The firm also owns The Future Project (TFP) – a strategic social enterprise/change communications firm which hosts The Future Awards, Nigeria’s most important awards for outstanding young Nigerians.”

Other persons in the list are: Jonathan Liebmann, South African, Real Estate developer, CEO of Propertuity; Patrick Ngowi, Tanzanian, CEO, Helvetic Solar Contractors; Lorna Rutto, Kenyan, Green Tech Entrepreneur, Founder, EcoPost; Justin Stanford, South African,Founder & CEO, 4Di Group; Rapelang Rabana, South African, Founder, YeigoCommunications; Kimiti Wanjaria & Ian Kahara, Kenyan, Founders, Serene Valley Properties; Oluwaseun Osewa, Nigerian, Founder, Nairaland and many more.

Read the full piece here

Executive Governor Ekiti State and Lead-In Speaker Governor Kayode Fayemi delivering his address at The Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders 2012

The Future Project has announced the second edition of The Nigeria Symposium for Young & Emerging Leaders, an annual high-level leadership platform focused on building capacity for the new generation of Nigerian leaders.

The event will hold at the Ikogosi Resorts in Ekiti State, Nigeria from 4 – 7 April, 2013.

“We are very excited to be presenting the second edition of this historic platform – which provides a very important platform for a
purposive national conversation about how the new generation of leaders can avoid the pitfalls of our history,” said Chude Jideonwo, who is executive director for The Future Project. “We are even more excited to announce that the event will be hosted by the Government of Ekiti State, Nigeria at the soon to be commissioned Ikogosi Resorts which has been constructed to world-class standards by the GovernorFayemi administration.”

The Nigeria Symposium for Young & Emerging Leaders, a platform leading from The Future Awards is the next stage of its involvement in building a new generation of leaders: creating a critical mass of new leaders who are already blazing a trail and managing systems – including business and political leaders, media leaders, thought leaders, civil society and public service leaders.

The first edition of the Symposium held in Lagos on March 19 and 20 2012. The Headline Speaker was then Vice-President of the World Bank,Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili and its Host was Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who was Minister of Youth Development.

“We are delighted to host this platform in 2013 – in the Land of Honour Ekiti State, Nigeria,” said the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. “Ekiti has always led the charge for democratic values, and good governance in the country, and we are passionate about sharing those lessons that we have learnt with the next generation of national leaders.

“We are also proud to host The Nigeria Symposium for Young & Emerging Leaders as one of the first programmes to be held at the Ikogosi Resorts which our administration would be unveiling soon. I am certain that the comfort offered by the world class service and facilities at Ikogosi coupled with the relaxing natural ambience of one of Africa’s finest resorts, would augur well for robust engagements amongst all participants at the symposium. It will be an enriching national conversation.

This year’s Symposium is focused on Nigeria’s next general elections – and young people effectively engaging the process across board, from business to politics and civil society.

To register, please go to www.thefuturenigeria.com/symposium and fill the form or email [email protected]. Successful registrants will be contacted by the Central Working Committee.

The Nigeria Symposium for Young & Emerging Leaders is presented by The Future Project, in partnership with EnoughisEnough Nigeria and with support from the Nigeria Leadership Initiative. Media partners are Channels Television, Silverbird TV, LASAA and Cool FM. Official media partner is Y!/YNaija.com.

More information is available on www.thefuturenigeria.com.

Truth is a tricky thing in the media industry.

Whether it’s what publishers say to agencies and brands to get their money or what agencies say to themselves about their position in the chain, half-truths and obfuscations are the norm. Read More

RED Managing Partner Chude Jideonwo has been invited as a speaker at Enterprise Creative’s: My Journey on Monday, February 18, 2013. Read More

RED Managing Partner Chude Jideonwo has been invited as a moderator at the second community conversation event holding on Wednesday, February 13th 2013 at Lagos State Vocational Training Centre, Iyun Street by Stadium Hotel, Surulere. Read More