ALL ROADS LEADS TO AKOWONJO…AGC 2020 tournament

By Oluwadamilare Daniels

All road leads to Akowonjo as Segun Olufisayo, Youth Leader of Omituntun, a suburb in Alimosho area of Lagos State, unleashes Alimosho Grassroots Championship 2020 tourney.

This football event will provide avenue for players to brandish their talents to the full glare of notable ‘football scouts’, this will also serve as a medium for brands and SMEs to showcase their products, goods and services to thousands of audience.

Bacayada Media Entertainment in this bold move is to douse the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemonium of #EndSARS panorama which has snatched the better part of this year (2020) from us as a Nation.

Segun Olufisayo, an indigene of  Osun State, his father’s mother is from Agunlejika Royal Family in Ilesa, which makes him related to the king maternally but, born and brought up in Lagos State, has anchored several shows within and outside Lagos, though as a youth leader, he has on his shoulders the responsibilities of coordinating youths during electoral processes but his major call is in the bowl of entertainment.

His fraternity in showbiz is over Sixteen years and has partnered with a lot of event centres in Alimosho; Lagos and outside the shores of the country, the likes of: LaView; Gloria Guest House and a couple of others. His timely strategy was the brain behind some foreign artists who performed in Akowonjo few years back; YQ; the late DaGreen.

He was behind the Autin J Studio success story back to back, years back, he was involved in Naija Edition Fashion House and also made On Point groovy at some point due to the prowess of his marketing skills.

Siege9ine Entertainment brought about Bacayada Media Entertainment which is currently registered with CAC, the acronym ‘Bacayada’ was coined from Backyard.

Bacayada took it upon itself to surf for imbue talents in youngster and manage it optimally to the benefit of the talented youngster. Segun Olufisaya is the helms man in Bacayada and in-charge of Bacayada Soldiers.

Before the emergence of Bacayada he had ply his trade with Premier Music, with the likes of Eddy Okonta, King Sunny Ade, Face, Tu Face, Jide Cord, Master T, Felebration, Shakomended and a couple of others.

With his wealth of exposure, come this November, Akowonjo will be illuminated with Alimosho Grassroots Championship 2020 tourney, suffice to say Akowonjo is gradually snowballing into ‘Allen Avenue’ in Alimosho area of Lagos State.

It might surprise you that Segun attened Abati Primary School and proceeded to Lagos Baptist Secondary School, Orile/Agege, he later moved to Egbado College, Ilaro, and finally grabbed Bsc Hons Sociology from Lagos State University (LASU).

Sponsors are spending much on their activation budgets as they are acquiring event rights, the commercial dynamics of sport and entertainment are more intertwined than ever before.  

Think of BBNaija Laycon, QDot, LNC, Lyrics, TuSlim, Master T, DJ Tito, Dj Dapush, DJ Slam, Baale of Shasha, all the CDA heads, and a lot of artists and dignitaries billed for the pre-party opening ceremony at the De Dems Park, Akowonjo.

Hat doff for Hon Jelili Sulaimon, the Executive Chairman of Alimosho Local Government who is the major sponsor of the event; a youth enthusiast who prioritize constructions, welfare packages, free health, education, social engineering, capacity building and poverty alleviation is always at the Beck and call of youth developmental programs to curb social vices. 

Excerpt:

When is the sport event coming up?

November.13th, pre-party at De Dems Park, while opening ceremony will be on 14th, November, 2020.

Can we go in-depth concerning the AGC-2020?

Twelve teams, this is like a fans club competition ‘Alimosho Grassroots Championship 2020’ (AGC-2020), it is a mixed of sport event and entertainment which can be called sport-tainment, in football sentimental barriers of ethnicities are chopped off while in entertainment, music in particular knows no bound, even sometimes you might not understand the musician language, the song will warped your entire spirit soul and body. Moreover, we need to be entertained. Footballers around Lagos are to choose names from known foreign clubs of their choices, register it with our outfit and on our part, we will provide Jersey kits for every player.

How many clubs are we looking at?

Twelve of them

Can we know their names?

1.        Chelsea

2.        Man United

3.        Liverpool

4.        Inter Milan

5.        Real Madrid

6.        Juventus

7.        Barcelona

8.        Paris Saint Germany

9.        Arsenal

10.      Tottenham

11.      Burucia Dortmund

12.      Bayern Munich

The whole idea is to infuse entertainment into football, De Dems Park, Akowonjo has already agreed to allow us use its open space/bar for our pre-party event, where we will launched the event with all our major/minor sponsors; entertainers cum dignitaries in attendance while matches will be slatted for the next morning.

How long will the tournament take, how many match per/day?

We are looking at two weeks plus minus, approximately 2 matches per/day.

Who are the bankrollers?

The Alimosho local government chairman, Hon Jelili Sulaimon is one of the major sponsors, Sifax Group, Adron Homes and a couple of others yet to consent, but soonest by His grace they’ll confirm their interest.

How many teams from Alimosho?

6 teams from Alimosho, least I forget, we are seriously working on an insurance policy that will cover every player participating in AGC-2020, besides we’ve got some ex-international players in this locality that are eager to participate.

They must be insured, minimally N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) per-player, to ease off injury scare and any further eventuality that may crop up during our tournament.

What is the cost of producing Jersey kits for a team?

Per team costs N28,000 (Twenty Eight Thousand Naira) and we must provide Jerseys for twelve teams to increase the tourney impetus, approximately we are looking at over N336,000 (Three Hundred and Thirty Six Thousand Naira).

What are the prizes for the Winner, 2nd Runner-up and Third place?

N250,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty thousand Naira) for 1st Place Winner, 2nd Place is N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira), 3rd place a 32inch Plasma Tv (LED), that doesn’t include the fees for bringing in DJ, Podium, Lighting, MC(s) including media guys, Bacayader really need a lot of cash.

Won’t the Plasma Television cause muscle tussle among the 3rd Place Winner?

No o!, (laughter) the guys are mature, they’ll sort it amicably among themselves.

What is the business benefit of this much talked about sporting event?

Price crash could help, we need brands that could take advantage of this sporting event to maximize profits, for instance, if Pepsi takes advantage of being a major sponsor, they will have the football arena branded with their banners.

Getting into the arena could be by buying a pack or more of Pepsi products otherwise he/she may be denied entry.

A pack of Pepsi which is N950, peradventure may be crashed at the venue for N650. What do you think retailers will do? Of course, they will take advantage of the ample opportunity; buy more of the product and make more profit.

 Anyways, it could be another beverage company.

Do you have any political ambition?

For now capital ‘NO’

What if you were beckoned upon to be a councilor or Chairman will you turn down the offer?

For political appointment, I will say yes but for elective position I will say ‘No,’ I have my reasons

Did you ever think the youths will work against you someday which might lead to your removal as youth leader?

Well, it is a voluntary position, I took it upon myself to give the going astray youths a direction and a voice, I’m the youth leader of Omituntu, we have other factions in different locations.

Initially, I was the secretary of Alhaji Idowu’s section of APC, so I’ve always been a rallying point between the youths and political big wigs in this community, their meetings are a must attend for me.

After AGC 2020 what’s next?

‘AK City Award Night’ is a pet project scheduled for next year, AK stands for Akowonjo, and Akowonjo is currently turning to the next Allen, whereby all well established organisations want to have an office outlet on Akowonjo Streets.

We’ll be rolling out our award night which will honour distinguish personalities and corporate bodies who have done exemplary well in their chosen field/career of endeavors in Lagos State, category like: The best Oba; The Best Youth Entrepreneur; The Best Bank; The Company with Best Customer Relationship; The Best DPO; The Best Police Officer of the Year and a couple of other boisterous categories.