There were 13 girls sitting as you entered the Muson Center, flanked on each side by men of muscles from K-guards; the girls had emblazoned on their t-shirts the letters of the alphabet so that guests moved straight to their names, ticked the guest list and had their invitations stamped for entry.

The invitations themselves were the first sign of what to expect. Designed in the form of the Nigerian passport, they read ‘A New Nigeria’. Guests presented the ‘visa page’ of the passport to the ushers and it would be stamped ‘allow entry’.

With your passport stamped, the guards made way and you were allowed to enter. This was where the magic began. Facing you on the left and right were magnificent life-size banners of the 2007 winners of the Award. Sponsored by the Miccom resorts, these profiles of achievement were part of what the organised tagged the Hall of Fame, and introduced guests to what was from beginning to end larger than life evening.

The organisers did not spare any little detail. Even setting another stand by working with Hygeia, a modern health services company, which had a fully equipped ambulance, complete with medical personnel stationed at the venue.

There were also beautiful giant banners that screamed the sponsors and media partners of the event and in front of them were the official presenters on the Red Carpet, Soundcity’s Denrele, with his partner, and Big Brother’s Fransisca. But even they were almost swallowed by the tens of other presenters from all the hippest shows in the country; Nigezie, Hip TV, Showtime Africa, Africa Awakes, STV Entertainment … name them.

The red carpet was truly beautiful. An endless stretch, it was packed full on each side by photographers from every media. Indeed it is almost possible that there was no major electronic or print medium without representation at the event. And the cocktails continued to flow. Guests simply did not want the red carpet to end.

At 6pm when they filed into the venue, there was a continuous live feed from the red carpet to the two giant screens on the stage. The stage, constructed by Total Consult, was another wonder: it played perfectly with lights on the podium and the background, and with a grand piano by the side that gave a truly enchanting feel to the evening. Add that to the out-of-the-world decors, courtesy of Simply Reenie, that elevated the Shell Hall of the Muson Center into a international-standard venue.

And the hall was very quickly filled up! It was full! Guests overflowed from every corner – but the event managers, Zappahire were prepared, quickly filling providing finely decorated chairs for the extra guests. And it was a star-studded hall! Nigerian stars and celebrities came not just from other parts of Nigeria , but very prominently from the US , the UK , Canada , and South Africa .

A voice booming from backstage: ”the boldest, the brightest, the best” kicked off the show, ushering in the first anchor of the night, Mnet’s Kemi Adetiba, and the surprise anchor for the evening, beauty queen Omowunmi Akinnifesi, who was doing this on stage for the very first time. The two ladies, looking heavenly in long evening guys by Mai and Dakou that had the guests gushing, were soon joined by Raz Adoti, whom Nigerians will remember from acting beside Van Damme. It was just as well that this year’s Golden Globe was without glamour, all the glamour you could possibly find was here at The Future.. Awards 2008! The event has without any doubt grown huge in stature. It has finally become ‘The Big One’.

The rest of the event maintained the up tempo. The show didn’t slow down one bit in the way that Nigerian shows are famous; from the very first act, it was HOT! The Rooftop MCs performed hit new track, introducing Abuja-based MI, who simply had the crowd screaming for more!

The much anticipated national anthem that has been a highlight of the past two editions was next – and the trio of Segun Obe, Essence and Ego Iheanacho had many to the brink of tears as they rendered our national tune.

Then another highlight stepped on stage: Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice President for Africa . Looking the very picture of elegance, Ezekwesili’s speech, impressively given extempore, captured the essence of the evening to the hilt. Almost every few seconds, her words of praise, of excitement at the evening, of passion for the future, were interjected with enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

The Inter.Act session, where guests were allowed to ask each other any questions was another opportunity for guests to hear from her, just as D’banj, Toyosi Akerele and others took questions from the crowd.

All the performers at the event lived up to their billing, coming in with unusual routines and world-class performances: Sasha bringing it on with the drums, the amazing children dancers called Explicit who took TY Bello’s Greenland song to another level, and the girls of Idols West Africa and First Chance who performed the KUSH hit, Let’s Live Together. Yinka Davies however brought the event to a crescendo with her ‘Koluwa ko so’ classic, performed alongside Cobhams. In fact it seemed the entire stage was designed for her performance, as, with her performance, she hugged and caressed it with uncommon brilliance! It was Yinka Davies like no event has ever seen her before!

The award winners were unveiled: Best Use of Technology (Dele Odufuye), Artist of the Year (Karo Akporiereie), Best Use of Advocacy (Toyosi Akerele), Magazine of the Year (Blast), Best Use of Goodwill (Omowunmi Agagu), Entrepreneur of the Year (Bukola Adubi), On-Air Personality of the Year (Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, of Cool FM), Music Producer of the Year (ID Cabassa), Professional of the Year (Ikechukwu Ochonohor, of Fedex), Screen Producer of the Year (Mak Kusare), Journalist of the Year (Abdulkareem Baba Aminu, of Daily Trust), Entrepreneur of the Year [Beauty&Style] (Banke Meshida-Lawal) Actor of the Year (Ali Nuhu, who was in Sitanda), and Musician of the Year, (D’banj)!

The final and biggest award was the climax of the show: Young Person of the Year. Voting for the three finalists (Chimamanda Adichie, Mikel Obi, and Chika Nwobi) had started from the moment guests got into the venue, and when the results were announced: author of Half of A Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie got the highest votes. Last year’s Young Person of the Year, Tara Fela-Durotoye was on hand to hand over the baton to her; and to declare her big prize: a Business Class return ticket to the UK , courtesy of Virgin Nigeria.

Other winners got mouth-watering prizes including i-pods from Bobby Taylor PR, Tara Orekelewa bags, executive trainings from the Fate Foundation and CISCO Technologies, accessories from Ouch!, gifts from Tiger Tem and Icy PR, One day’s spa treatment from Venivici Spas, and then a weekend for two at the breath-taking Miccom Golf Resorts during the Winners After-Party at the resort on the 8th of February.

Guests at the star-studded evening included Sen. Florence Ita Giwa (Special Adviser to the President), Mrs. Soyinka-Omojala (Special Adviser to the VP on Youth), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN (President, Nigeria Bar Association), Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi (Chairman, PPPRA), Mrs. Olufunke Agagu (First Lady, Ondo State), The Registrar, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, amongst others.

Others were Dr. Reuben Abati, Soni Irabor, Bode Sowunmi, Obi Asika, Peace Fiberesima, Kayode Otitoju, Joan Okorodudu, Toni Kan, Agatha Amata, amongst others. Younger guests included Yellow-Yellow author Kaine Agary, Celebrity Takes 2 winner, Funlola Aofiyebi, Linda Ikeji, MTV VJ search winner, TY Bello, Oge Okoye, Efe Omoregbe, Tosin Dekalu, Dumebi Agbakoba, Ronke Apampa, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, Tolu Ogunlesi, Emem Ema, Michelle Ashionye, Toni Payne, amongst many others.

The event was supported by First Inland Bank, Miccom Golf Resorts, Digital Reality, Storm Media Group, Zapphaire Events, Twelve Baskets, and True Love West Africa.

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