Remmy Nweke
6 November 2009
A medical student of University of Jos (UNIJOS), Mr. Kizito Eguonu has emerged the star winner of the 2009 Etisalat's 9jillion promo which ended in Lagos, yesterday, carting home the sum of $1 million (about N151,006,412.80).
With the end of the 9jillion, Mr. Eguonu, already a millionaire in the Etisalat promo, has become a $1 million richer.
His cheque was presented at the grand finale in Lagos, by the chief executive of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans accompanied by the chief executive, First Bank Plc, Mr. Gbenga Onakoya and Senator Solomon Ganiyu.
Eguonu, who was overwhelmed by excitement when the winner was announced, was able to calm his nerves only with the intervention of security personnel.
Saturday Champion recalls that in the second quarter of this year, Etisalat Nigeria made innovative entry into the nation's telecommunications sector with estimated N245 million up for grabs in its Win a Phone and 9jillions promos, which were simultaneously unveiled.
Announcing the promotion, CEO Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Evans had said that the 3-in-1 promo offered hundreds of Etisalat subscribers an opportunity to win a fantastic prize on the network every hour for 90 days.
"This unique one of a kind promo offers our subscribers an opportunity to win a phone every hour of the day for 90 days beginning from 8 June. Also, 35 lucky Nigerians will be instant millionaires during this promo while one especially lucky Nigerian will win the grand prize of one million US dollars. This country has never seen the likes of the Win a Phone and 9jillions promo before. This further confirms our claim to market innovativeness and also demonstrates one of Etisalat's core value propositions to its customers - caring," he said.
Giving an insight into how the promotion worked, the chief marketing officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar, said the customers have the opportunity to win prizes at different stages of the promo with the grand finale being the winning of $1,000,000 cash by one very lucky customer. The promotion equally produced 35 millionaires at the regional draws while more customers stand the chance of winning expensive phones in the 90-day Win a Phone promo.
Wael explained that for customers to be eligible for the chance of winning a phone every hour for 90 days, new subscribers only need to buy and activate an Etisalat SIM while subscribers already on the Etisalat network need to only recharge with between N200 and N500 airtime. "They must send then an SMS with their name and location to the short code, 5000 and then text 'enter' to the same short code for subsequent entries. If a subscriber wins, he will get an SMS with a winning code and an instruction to call the Etisalat call centre to claim their prize," he said.
Winners of phones in the promotion stand, he said, have the chance of qualifying for any of the millions of naira up for grabs at different regional events across the nation. Subscribers who have not won a phone could be selected as second chance winners based on the number of times they entered the competition without winning and also qualify for the Regional 9jillions million dollar game show.
"Regional finalists go on to the grand finale where they stand a chance to win $1,000,000," he declared.
Currently standing at the 140th position among Financial Times' top 500 corporations in the world, Etisalat is the largest provider of telecommunication services in Africa and the Middle East and serves an ever increasing subscriber base of 74 million people across Africa, Middle East and Asia.
The innovative GSM provider currently has unique products such as Easy Starter and Easy Cliq in the Nigerian market. Both offer a wide array of creative and exciting features designed to satisfy all communications needs of its subscribers.
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