By EMMA ELEBEKE
In preparation for the 2014 World Cup holding in Samba land, Brazil, MultiChoice, owners of Nigeria’s leading pay TV, DSTV recently  rolled out a promo tagged ‘‘The Samba Promo’’, as a way of paying back to its loyal  subscribers in the country. In the promo, about 60 DSTV subscribers nationwide are expected to qualify for a free to and fro trip to Brazil. Arrangement has been concluded by MultiChoice to make these winners have a fun and wholesome experience of latest DSTV channel studios, while the fiesta lasts.

In this interview with Mr. Olalekan Ismail, Regional Manager, North, MultiChoice Nigeria;  he speaks on the decision to take the 60 lucky winners to Brazil, the significance of trip, the 20th anniversary of MultiChoice in Nigeria, ways it had impacted into the lives of Nigerians, challenges and the innovations to expect in 2014.
Excerpts:

Tell us about Samba Promo?
The Samba Promo is all about giving back to the society for them to have the same experience  that millions of people around the world will be having in Brazil. We deemed it fit that 60 out of our numerous subscribers would have opportunity of going on a trip to Brazil to watch the World Cup live.

That is why we have called this press conference to make presentations to the four winners of the promo, who happen to be the first set to be selected out the 60 required.
We were the ones that revived basket ball in Nigeria that has made the country to compete with the rest of the world today. Football seems to be the global language everybody speaks.

We do not want to be left behind in the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, since we have been promoting it as part of the major frontiers of sports promoters and that will be the major event in 2014. We need to bring some of our loyal customers to experience it live and not to just see at the corners of their rooms to be watching it, ours is for them to go out their to be watching it live.

Why the choice of World Cup, when there are whole lots of other sporting activities?
We considered giving our customers the World Cup experience necessary because in the whole world today, football is the only language that unites people together and we need to give people experience, something different from what they have been used to. Ordinarily, if you ask people who are not sports officials or football officials, they might tell you something  different.

MultiChoice Nigeria is 20, tell us your major impact on Nigerian people?
In the past 20 years, when MultiChoice came into this country, we developed the media content in several ways by promoting the local content in Nigeria. In sports as well, we tried as much as possible to spend a huge amount of money in promoting Nigerian sports as well, ranging from football, basket ball and so on. Of recent, we invested in the local football competition in Lagos.