Lukmon Akintola
Binance, a blockchain and ecosystem provider has displaced Rite Foods Limited to emerge as the lead sponsor of the seventh edition of the popular music reality show, Nigerian Idol.
Rite Foods through its Bigi brand sponsored the sixth edition of the youth-centric show that had Obi Asika, DJ Sose, Seyi Shay as judges, and IK Osakioduwa as the anchor.
The sixth edition of the show saw Kingdom Kroseide emerging winner, and walking away with N30 million in cash and N20 million in other gift items on Sunday, July 11, 2021.
The unveiling of the seventh edition of the show this year came with its surprises in the areas of judges and indeed sponsorship, as Multichoice, organisers of the show did not only send Seyi Shay packing but also terminated the contract of DJ Sose, retaining only veteran record label owner Obi Asika, while bringing on the duo of highly talented musicians, D’banj and Simi.
The biggest surprise came in the area of sponsorship, as Rite Foods were relegated, making the indigenous company play second fiddle to Binance prided as a platform which besides operating the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, also spans an entire ecosystem that has an enviable scorecard of averaging 2.0 billion as its average daily volume, and 1, 400, 000 transactions per second.
Explaining why Binance decided to sponsor the show, its Director for Africa, Emmanuel Babalola, said: “In a world of diversity, music scales through differences and unites people of contrasting backgrounds. As such, it is a thrilling opportunity to sponsor the popular musical competition, Nigerian Idol, as it is another step in our efforts to drive the mainstream adoption of crypto. Nigerian music continues to take centre stage globally and it’s never been a more exciting time to support this.”
Indeed with N100,000.00 up for grabs when Nigerian Idol season seven kicks off properly today, fans of the reality show will have little time for Rite Foods as the spotlight will be on the leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance, as it takes its place as the new force behind the show.
