Winners Emerge in Microsoft #PassionToEmpire Campaign

The five-week Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services (MMDS) “From Passion to Empire” campaign which recorded over 4,000 entries came to an end yesterday as five new millionaires emerged.

Having convinced the judges with their brilliant business ideas among the last 15 selected for the final pitching duel, Jessica Yahaya, Daniel Isa, Emmanuel Ugwueke, Emmanuel Okena and Godwin Benson smiled home with N3.5miilion each.

The winners will be mentored by the likes of Nigerian top beauty entrepreneur, Tara Fela-Durotoye, entertainment mogul, the founder and CEO of Chocolate City, AuduMaikori and techpreneur and founding partner of leading careers and jobs website, Jobberman, Opeyemi Awoyemi.

They will also undergo three days of training at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic, sponsored by MMDS.

The five winners and judges of the #MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign, which took place on Monday 27th April, 2015 at Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos.

According to the Senior Marketing Manager, Microsoft Devices and Services, Olumide Balogun, “Lumia is for inspired people who do not recognize boundaries in the quest to reaching for their goals. We know that such people abound in Nigeria and we are happy to work with established entrepreneurs and the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University to offer them the opportunity to soar through the ‘From Passion to Empire’ initiative.”



Speaking on what inspired the “Passion to Empire” campaign, Mr. Joseph Umunakwe, managing director, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, the initiative was “targeted at entrepreneurs to test the strength of their ideas, sharpen their skills and expand their frontiers as they go through a period of intensive business coaching with the aim to ultimately, establish their businesses”.

“The reason our entrepreneurs fail is largely for lack of the bridge between passion and empire. We at Microsoft have seen it as a challenge and are willing to help out to ensure these noble ideas are ultimately utilized for the society’s growth”.

He added that the first and second runners up will be given opportunity to participate in the mentorship programme, because they have innovative acumen needful to the society.    

CEO, Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori; Winner #MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign, Godwin Benson and Managing Director, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, Joseph Umunakwe;  at the Press Conference announcing the 5 winners of the campaign, which took place on Monday 27th April, 2015 at Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos.

Emmanuel Ugwueke whose team, in the last five years, have been manually engraving and branding companies’ names and logos on tin covers and packs, N3.5million is a major boost to their operations and will ‎aid in transmission from manual to automated process.

"We have companies from Nassarawa,‎ Benue, Kogi and others, who are willing to give us business, but we are limited due to the manual process of our operations. So, when I heard about the Microsoft Devices campaign, I reluctantly applied and they email me be in Lagos for the competition. Today, a new chapter has been opened to us.

CEO, Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori; Winner #MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign, Emmanuel Ugwueke and Managing Director, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, Joseph Umunakwe at the Press Conference.

"We have the idea that what we can produce will even discourage companies from travelling abroad for their packaging branding and engraving. ‎Apart from that, it will stop capital flight and boast job creation in Nigeria. We are thankful to Microsoft and the judges who saw sense in what we are doing", Ugwueke explained enthusiastically.

Also expressing delight over the opportunity, Jessica Yahaya, an entrepreneur with passion for agricultural produce preservation, said that while growing up as a child in Kaduna, she was never satisfied that her family records losses each year after fruitful farming, largely for lack of proper preservation mechanism.

She vowed to ensure that both her family, community and the nation, benefit from her technological program that will ensure proper farm products preservation.

With a feasible idea in tackling challenges in the waste management and disposal in the country, Emmanuel Okena, has a passion to design a system that will help the country removed the bottlenecks and move the ‎secure to another level using technology.

Citing Lagos State as the model, Okena said that currently, residents are faced with issues such as a disconnect from the waste managers and improper billing and payment systems.

For Godwin Benson, he hopes to transform the face of tutorial in Nigeria, adding that with a mobile application, they will connect parents and students to their choice tutors from any part of the country.

The Lagos-based young man said that the educational sub-sector has been growing by 17% in Nigeria and will even reach over 20% by year 2020.

Benson stated that the application is to reduce the stress, time wastage and other inhibiting factors faced in the Nigerian tutorial and non-tutorial circle.

Other winners also showcased creative ways to curbing Nigeria's ‎challenges in agriculture, e-commerce, and other services.

CEO, Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori; Managing Director, Microsoft Mobile Devices and Services, Joseph Umunakwe; Winner #MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign, Emmanuel Okena; 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 on Monday 27th April, 2015 at Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos.

CEO, Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori, Managing Director, 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

#MakeItHappen# Microsoft Lumia 535 Dual SIM ‘Passion to Empire’ activation campaign participants