Oceanic’s Fash football reality show begins - As 30 finalists are unveiled

09.07.2008

The thirty finalists who made it to the reality show stage of the Football Challenge with Fash, a sport project powered by the Oceanic Bank International Plc, were unveiled on Tuesday amid pomp and pageantry.

The colourful ceremony held at the Lagoon Restaurant in Lagos Island was witnessed by who is who in the world of sports in Nigeria.

National coaches, sports enthusiasts as well as sports journalists commended the project and the ingenuity of the leading African regional bank for the bold steps it took in rediscovering talents that abound in the country in the area of football.

The football reality show, the first of its kind in the African continent, which promises to be a veritable source for talents that will lift football from the woods will go live on television as from July 19.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Oceanic Bank, Dr. (Mrs.) Cecilia Ibru offered an insight into why the bank partnered ex-Nigerian International, Ambassador John Fashanu.

She explained that the bank was only keeping to its philosophy of building a stronger Nigeria through a veritable platform of which is football, adding that more often than not, the game of football had proven to be a unifying factor in the affairs of the nation.

"Today after scaling several hurdles and injecting the Oceanic flavour of service excellence and transparency into the making of the reality shows, we are witnessing the unveiling of a new era of footballers that will bring innumerable laurels and trophies to our fatherland," she noted.

The bank, according to her is of the firm belief that Nigeria needs to establish sports academies where youths would be groomed in various sporting activities.

She then assured that the Fash Football Challenge had come to stay as the bank is determined to produce more Okochas, Kanus, Yobos and the likes of Mikel.

The Oceanic Managing Director stated that the boys would be in camp for 45 days of various activities that will be geared towards enhancing their footballing skills and exposing them to success yielding values.

The coordinator of the project, Ambassador Fashanu expressed his deep appreciation the Oceanic bank's management for believing in him, by sponsoring the project, noting that the bank had shown by that gesture that it was ready to anything that could bring about a better Nigeria and her people.

It would however be a win-win affair for all the 30 finalists as each and every one as they all would be exposed to the outside world while displaying their mastery of the round leather game, in the first ever football reality show not only in Nigeria but in the entire African continent.

However, as the show progresses, members of the watching public would be expected to vote to eject 15 of the players leaving the remaining 15, who will form the Fash Football Team.

From the 15 finalists will emerge the Most Valuable Player who will win a SUV Jeep while the other 14 go home with Honda CRV. All will also go home with One million Naira each.

It would be recalled that over 15, 000 soccer loving youths slugged it out at the zonal trials held in five centres, across the country.