GLO – Powering Ambition

By Eric Elezuo

Powering ambition is not a premise, it’s a promise, happens to be the catchphrase as communication giant, Globacom, embarked on a no holds barred activities to mark it’s 20th anniversary, with the sole aim of unveiling new communication direction for its operation.

Revered as a leveler in the telecommunications operations in Africa, especially in Nigeria, Glo’s influence precedes it, and with the newfound direction in signing most Nigerian entertainers and celebrities, it has become not only the network to beat, but the network of choice.

Consequently, on November 25, the mega company, under the leadership of Africa’s top liquid billionaire, Michael Adenuga, rolled out the drums to give Nigerians a show of a lifetime at the Eko Hotel and Suites. The much talk about shindig featured superstars of the entertainment industry, including the wave making Asake, whose ‘Lonely at the Top’ is sitting pretty atop most charts, and buga master, Kizz Daniel.

Other artists featured were Chike, Gordons and Tobi Bakare.

In electrifying displays, the artists gave the guests a time of their lives, keeping them on the feet, and swinging to and from to uncorruptible rhythm of originality flow from the sounds and steps of the mega stars.

The major highlight of the evening with GLO was the raffle draw, which saw a good number of Nigerians winning first class tickets of Lagos to London round trip.

It is worthy knowing that GLO, since 2003, when it officially kickstarted operations after a few summourtable hiccups, the company has remained in the forefront pioneering and powering the healthy ambitions of not a few Nigerians with the latest in their long list of sign-ons being Asake, Kizz Daniel and Chike.

Others artists, sportsmen and entertainment buffs under the GLO being continuously powered to their ambitions are boxing superstar, Anthony Joshua, hurdles queen, Tobi Amusan, comedian Gordons, actor Tobi Bakare and a host of others.

Globacom has always been associated with the development of the Nigerian music industry, since its inception, from its involvement with Nollywood and leading Nigerian music talents to the sponsorship of music shows such as Rock ‘n’ Rule, GloNaija Sings, Laffta Fest, and  the world’s number one music singing talent reality TV show, X Factor. Others are Slide and Bounce concert, an entertainment tour which went round all the Geo-political zones of the country as well as Glo mega Music show, another platform through which Globacom entertains and delights Nigerians.

These programmes are meant to discover and help nurture budding talents. The company also supports the movie industry in Nigeria (Nollywood) and in Ghana (Ghollywood). Many of the actors and actresses in both countries have been chosen as Glo Ambassadors, thus projecting the continent in a refreshing light through African movies.

Globacom brought the world’s biggest dance reality show, Battle of the Year, to Nigeria. The winners in seven different categories went home with mega millions in cash, space wagon , and also bagged an opportunity to represent at the global edition of the competition.

Indeed, no corporate organization has had the kind of assemblage of entertainment heavyweights as it brand ambassadors as Globacom. All through the years, the cream of the country’s musicians, footballers, actors and comedians have either been signed on as brand ambassadors or featured in the company’s television commercials. The long list includes veterans such as late Osita Osadebe, late Oliver d’Coque, King Sunny Ade, Ebenezar Obey, Nelly Uchendu, Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Osaze Odemwingie  and Emmanuel Emenike. Others are MI Abaga, D’Banj, PSquare, Rita Dominic, Ini Edo, Flavour, Wizkid, Davido, Basketmouth, Gordons, I go Dye, Juliet Ibrahim, Matter Ankomah, Joselyn Dumas, Michael Essien, former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Anthony Joshua and track queen, Tobi Amusan.

GLO has also powered cultural engagements across the country, the latest being the recently concluded Ofala festival in Anambra State. Others include Ojude Oba in Ijebu-Ode, Lisabi in Abeokuta, Imeori in Abiriba, Oru – Owerri in Imo state, Afia- Orlu In Nnewi, Abia –Ugwa in Isialangwa in Abia State and counting.

The list of GLO’s phenomenal impact in powering ambitions to fruition remains inexhaustible, and continues to grow on a daily basis.

A game hanger, and originator of many firsts, GLO is reputed as the following based on words reported by the firm:

“Since inception in 2003, Globacom has been true to  its resolve to provide world-class communications and digital services through constant deployment of latest technologies in line with the corporate promise to build a robust ICT network infrastructure that would consistently deliver value to its esteemed customers.

“Glo has been at the forefront of revolutionary changes in the telecommunication sector in Nigeria. It crashed the cost of acquiring SIM cards in the country from about N25,000 to just about N200. The network also disappointed bookmakers as it launched operations on a Per Second Billing platform, a feat others had described as impossible to achieve until another five years.

“Prominent among the innovations Glo pioneered in Nigeria are Blackberry, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Magic Plus, Glo Direct, Glo Fonepals, Africhat, Glo Mobile Internet, GloFleetmanager, M-Banking and Glo Mobile Office. Glo was also the first to launch 2.5G, 3G and 4G LTE networks. It also singlehandedly built an international submarine cable, Glo 1 to connect West Africa directly to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. It also connects 12 nations in the West African sub region, including some of them that are landlocked.

“Glo1 is credited with crashing the cost of internet services and is today the preferred cable system by global OTT providers. It connects thousands of kilometres of national fibre to all parts of Nigeria.”

GLO is a force to reckon, and that’s difficult to behold.