Bring-Back-Our-Girls campaign dominates Nigerian Idol today

All is set for the grand finale of Nigerian Idol, which holds today at Dream Studios, Omole, Lagos, today by 12 noon. And the organis­ers have wrapped up plans to capture the mood of the nation against the backdrop of the Bring-Back-Our-Girls campaign. Commenting, the CEO of Optima Media Group, Rotimi Pedro, said the move was in line with the corporate responsibil­ity of the platform: “The stage is set. Today, the two final­ists, Eye D and Evelle will go head to head as they lock horns in the ultimate battle that will determine the winner of the fourth edition of Nigerian Idol. It promises to be exciting as Dare Art Alade and Tuface Idibia will also be on hand to entertain guests. “And what’s more, as is the tradition of the platform, we shall be capturing the mood of the nation. Remember that on April 14, 300 girls were kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State, and that has thrown the nation into a solemn mood for the past six weeks. “Nigerian Idol will be re-echoing the Bring-Back-Our-Girls campaign when the 12 final­ists file out to do a special number for the Chibok girls during the grand finale today; the objective is to use the platform to campaign vigor­ously for the re­lease of our girls. This is our own way of reaching out. The fact that two girls are the finalists this year underscores how talented are girls are,” Pedro added. And for the first time, it’s not going to be the case of winner takes it all. Pedro disclosed that this year’s winner gets N7.5m, a car and an international record deal with Universal Music, while the first runners-up pockets N1.5m and a car and the second runners-up smiles home with N1m. Commenting on preparations, Pe­dro continued: “Nigerian Idol made its debut four years ago and the platform has continued to grow from strength to strength ever since. This year we started with about 10, 000 contestants and we went around five cities to try to get the best and the process was quite elaborate before we got the final 12 that competed for the grand prize.” He also revealed that plans are in top gear for a Ghanaian Idol, which should hold in Ghana next year, adding that Ni­gerian Idol has signed a global deal with Universal Music. Expressing his gratitude to sponsors Pepsi and Etisalat, Pedro concluded: “We want to thank them for supporting youth driven initiatives; they have stood out and embraced the renaissance of Nigerian music.”