‘Why we are ‘Maltavating’ Nigerians’

Ifeoma Agu is the Senior Brands Manager for non-alcoholic drinks at Guinness Nigeria Plc. During the unveiling ceremony for the Malta Guiness-sponsored ‘Maltavator Challenge Season 2’ at the Siverbird Cinemas on Tuesday, she spoke about the motives behind the challenge, among other issues. Rotimi Ige, who was there, brings the excerpt.

Tell us what the idea of the Maltavator Challenge is about.

We are here for the private screening of Maltavator Challenge season two, if you have been following this challenge, last year we had season one and this year is the second season. It’s a Pan-African game TV show. The platform really is for Malta Guinness to showcase itself in terms of how the brand is bringing to life, the ability to fuel the ‘can do’ spirit of Nigerians and to showcase the greatness of Nigeria and Africa as a whole which is why it’s a pan-African TV show. Maltavator Challenge brings the contestants from across five different countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire) all competing for the grand prize of $20,000.

How is the selection process like?

For Nigeria, we went out to about five cities – Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Ibadan and Benin –  to have auditions where young people came out in thousands to compete. In each city we chose four finalists, then later moved to Lagos for a grand finale where we had all 20 of them slug it out for the last six positions to represent Nigeria as a country. So, we have six finalists, who we are very proud of and have gone into the season two of the Maltavator Challenge against all other contestants from the other four countries I mentioned earlier, that is, contestants from Ghana, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire competing against Nigeria in the Maltavator Challenge season 2.

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What exactly is being showcased?

What we are showing you is the first episode of the eight week-long episode series. We are excited about it, this is a great time for Malta Guinness because yet again, we have proven to be able to bring Africans together and show how Malta Guinness, with its goodness, vitality and energy is fueling the greatness of Nigerians and indeed, Africa.

What was your achievement with season one Maltavator Challenge?

Last year, we had an Ethiopian win the pan-African TV show but this year, we are very confident, given the crop of Nigerians that we are also taking to the finals. We are positive and optimistic that Nigeria will bring it home this year and that’s the spirit of ‘true naija’. As much as we are Africans, we are also in a competition. So we are wishing everyone all the best and hoping they come home with good prizes. The good thing is that the grand prize is $20,000. We also have consolation prizes for all participants, thus making everyone a winner. The idea is that we are looking for the ‘Maltavator of Maltavators’ because every other person who has come out as a regional finalist or Nigerian finalist is already a Maltavator.

Who is a Maltavator?

A Maltavator is that person who faces his challenges daily with optimism, energy, determination and is able to conquer any day, any time. They will be going through an assortment of games that we mostly call ‘obstacles courses’ or games. Some of them you will experience today during the private screening. The idea is to test their physical agility as well as mental agility and we know that Malta Guinness which is packed full of energy giving vitamins is able to provide them the required energy, vitality and goodness to pull through in any competition they go through.

How sustainable is this TV show?

From the business point of it, it’s a sustainable platform that we are looking to promote yearly. Since we have had it for two years, I will be very positive to say that it has come to stay.

Why are the targets mostly youths?

If I look at the fact that even 65 year olds today are youths, it only makes sense to think everyone is young at heart. It’s not necessarily about young people but it’s about being young at heart and being forward thinking.

In this season two, what experiences are you hoping to bear on the nation and especially youths?

When I think of it in terms of how we are bringing different young people from different countries together and creating the spirit of ‘One Africa, One Naija’, I think it’s phenomenal what Malta Guinness is doing being the a premium African Malt drink,  currently being the only one to pull people together across Africa and giving them a competing spirit such that our young people are targeted right and developing the spirit of determination, doggedness and of course the spirit of sportsmanship which is what we need as leaders of tomorrow.