Once again, aspiring young Nigerian entrepreneurs are set for healthy rivalry as The Next Titan Nigeria Season 8 kicks off.
The much-watch show, which is Nigeria’s foremost and biggest business reality television show, is kicking off on September 21, 2021 with the audition of successful applicants.
Like in other seasons, the winner of Season 8 will be going home with N15 million cash grand prize.
Meanwhile, the audition will begin in Port Harcourt before moving to Abuja, Enugu, Lagos, Ibadan and Kano, amid pre-show activities such as top 50 Boot Camp, which will be held in Lagos, Premiere Gala Evening and many others.
The reality show is targeted at engineering entrepreneurship among Nigerians youths through identifying the best business minds and supporting their entrepreneurial business acumen, through logical assistance, informal training, knowledge and other requisite services needed to propel them into successful personalities.
Speaking during a media parley to announce the new season in Lagos recently, Mide Akinlaja, executive producer of the show, disclosed that thousands of entries from young aspiring entrepreneurs from across Nigeria are already being received by the organisers.
He explained that the importance of the show lies in igniting entrepreneurial spirit and showcasing the possibility of entrepreneurship in transforming lives with just an idea that can be scaled to greatness with a market and with Nigeria’s population.
“The show will afford young ambitious Nigerians another opportunity to showcase their business ideas and contest against one another for a whooping prize of N15 million to start the business of their dream”, Akinlaja said.
Explaining the format of the show, he said that the contestants are to pitch their business ideas through auditions from six major cities in the country including Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Ibadan and Lagos. But those who cannot make it to the physical audition are given the opportunity to do so online. After this, and for the main show aspect, the Top 50 would be selected for Top 10 Boot Camp, before the 16 final contestants with brightest ideas are shortlisted to stay together to compete by executing weekly business tasks and challenges around the cities of Lagos for 10 weeks on television, and with weekly evictions in the boardroom by the judges.
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“The previous seven seasons produced winners who are doing very well in their businesses. Some of the winners are iconic as they have built strong businesses. All the previous winners of The Next Titan Nigeria are now employers of labour, as they have launched their respective businesses, which cut across different sectors and have created jobs for graduates, while most of the participants who did not win have tapped into their ideas from the show into sustainable businesses”, Akinlaja said.
Just like the previous seasons, each week’s task will incorporate various aspects of business such as sales, marketing, promotions, charities, advertising pitches and others. The contest will also experience the importance of philanthropy and community services by initiating such campaigns on the show.
A minimum of 500 and 1000 contestants from auditions will be eligible for up to N3 million funding courtesy of the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development. The funding opens a window of opportunity for those who cannot compete for the grand prize of N15 million cash to qualify for funding.
Apart from the audition judges, the judges of the main show still remain the same. They are top Nigerian business leaders such as Kyari Bukar, ex-chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Tonye Cole, founder, Sahara Group, Chris Perks, and Lilian Klub, CEO, EFG Hermes. They will use their position to mentor contestants and millions of viewers. The mentorship aspect will also entail the visiting of other young successful entrepreneurs to the house of the contestants on a weekly basis.
Speaking at the launch of season 8, Sunday Dare, Minister of Sports and Youth Development, who spoke through Okuwakemi Adeola, his special adviser on sports development and ICT, said The Next Titan Nigeria, is a kind of initiative the government loves to identify with because of its explorative drive for youths empowerment.
He noted that the government alone cannot solve the problem of youth unemployment and so needs the support of the private sector to achieve it.
Dare hinted that the government has made provision for some grants, citing the N75 billion access to funds for youth small and medium enterprises in the country.
Speaking about the show, Taiwo Afolabi, MD/CEO of CIFAX Group, explained that his organisation identifies with the programme because of the vital role it is playing to raise the young generation of entrepreneurs in the country.
Afolabi stressed that CIFAX investment in the reality show is part of its corporate social responsibility for job creation in the country.
Chidinma Eriobu, one of the runner ups of the show’s Season 7, who is the CEO/founder, PHRONESIS Foods Nigeria Ltd, stressed that adequate funding and flexible government policies are key for the survival of young entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Eriobu asked the government and the private sector to provide grants that would boost genuine businesses so that young people will be encouraged to key into production activities.
