| GLO: Funny things people
do for a new car?
By TAIWO OLUWADARE
Saturday, March
1 , 2008
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•Ademolu
Yetunde in the Mercedes Benz car she won.
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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A new car, a brand new car, is always a thing of joy. But
the joy is doubled when it comes at virtually no cost –
almost like a gift. A surprise gift.
That seems to be the lot of lucky Globacom subscribers nationwide
as the cars from Glo’s promo line begin to roll out.
And many of the lucky winners are really getting up to funny
things – all the unimaginable funny things people could
do for a new car.
I will marry you for a BMW
Miss Nike Okeowo, an Ibadan based Civil Servant, was reluctant
to pick her call. When she did this conversation ensued between
her and the caller at the other end, he was the compere at
the Glo WIN AND RULE promo draw.
MC: Who are we speaking with?
Okeowo: Ah! Oga you called me now. So who
are you?
MC: (MC introduces himself) If you listen
to the background you must have heard some noise. We are at
the second draw of the ongoing Glo Win and Rule Promo. We
are right now drawing the cars we have promised. And let me
ask you, are you married?
Okeowo: No, I’m not married.
MC: Do you have a car?
Okeowo: No, I don’t have a car.
MC: If I give you a car, will you marry me?
Okeowo: Ah, I will marry you now.
MC: What kind of car will you love to have?
Okeowo: Anyone. I will take anyone you give
me.
The MC later announced to Miss Nike Okeowo, who had now calmed
down that she had won for herself a brand new BMW 318i.
It is a lie -Mrs Abiola
But the biggest headache however was from Mrs. Ademola Abiola
Yetunde who was presented with the brand new Mercedes Benz
S350 she won three weeks before February 5, 2008 . Mrs. Abiola,
a well bred Lagosian, could never believe anyone trying to
convince her that any organization could just give out a Mercedes
Benz car just because one bought recharge cards and actually
got value for the money.
“Yes, I was aware of the promotion. I knew Glo was running
a promo. I’m also aware that they usually run such promos
from time to time. I also know that people win and take the
cars, but a Mercedes? That was a difficult one to believe.
But here am I today, I’m not just a believer, I have
experienced it. I feel it and I know it.
Mrs. Abiola also attributed her fears to the current lack
of trust in society. In those days, when one calls you and
says a big organization like Globacom wants to talk to you,
your reaction will first be that of surprise because you do
not know what you did to warrant such attention. Your next
reaction is to jump from your seat and start running in case
they want you to come immediately. Today, you have to check
the skin, the colour and the voice of the person calling before
you give your attention because all the caller wants is your
attention and once they get your attention, you become their
prey.
There is no reasonable Nigerian who would not believe Globacom,
but the bad people will always capitalize on our lack of information
to deal with us. But I thank companies like Globacom, which
are working hard to restore our trust in ourselves.
I congratulate myself
Alhaji Abubarkar Usman, an engineer with Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was asked to say how he felt
as he was informed that he had won the ultimate prize for
the day, a Mercedes S350. He simply said, “I congratulate
myself for winning this award”. But before he congratulated
himself, he had thanked Allah for making it possible. Then
he started what sounded like a self-appraisal of his relationship
with Glo. “I’m one of your valued customers. I
do not use any other line but Glo. Thank you for recognizing
my patronage.
In short, Glo has made my year -Francis Mathew
If Alhaji Usman was economical with words, Francis Mathew
was effervescent. He said he had come to Lagos not expecting
to pick his BMW 380i car. “Indeed I had come to hear
stories. Ah, I cannot believe this is happening to me. I can’t
believe that I that never thought of owning a car now own
a BMW car. Even if I wanted to buy a car, I do not think I
would have gone for a BMW. It is for the super rich. Look
at me now…” He jumped on to the car and spread
his hands. The Lord has done it for me. May his name be praised?
I thought it was a joke - Chidi
You will think he was out of his senses. He was not. The Igbo
folks of Remigius Chidi would describe it as joy that will
not allow one blow fire. He ran to the first car and claimed
it; ran to the second one and claimed it, until he was called
to the real one because the car particulars have been assigned
to the respective winners even before the event. When he was
shown his own car, he fell on it, caressed, mumbled a few
words which appeared with prayer, or may be an incantation.
It was more likely to be prayer than incantation as he came
into the venue clutching his Bible.
When he opened his mouth, he came up with what one would say
was unconnected with the issue in point. “My friends
made a jest of me. They said when I bought the line in 2003
that I was using an inferior network. When I could reach them
initially, they celebrated telling me to heed their advice.
As time past, it improved and they began to reach me and I
also began to reach them. But more time, they discovered that
I was making better connections than them and more importantly,
they were now borrowing my phones each time they wanted to
reach a Glo subscriber. Their mouths were shut. When I told
them that I’ve won a car in the Glo ‘Win n Rule’
promo, again they started another round of jests at me. They
told me I was on my way to being swindled by Yahoo boys. Well,
I told them that I will surprise them- Am I not surprising
them now.
The real joke came when all the eight winners started taking
their cars home. Mr. Chidi was still lurking around his Kia
Rio. Two hours after the event, he was still at the venue
when a journalist approached him to ask, whether anything
was wrong. He admitted. “My brother, do you know I’m
so overwhelmed that I couldn’t think…I was actually
trying to see if I could get a driver that could take the
car down to my brother’s house in Iyana Oworo. Mr. Chidi
lives in Benin .
For Bartholomew Madugba, Glo is a family affair
At the presentation, Mr. Bartholomew Madugba came with his
septuagenarian mother, his two sisters and his nephews. He
could not believe what he had seen. He had no words to say
it. But the sister Mrs. Ngozi Ukeje was his mouthpiece at
this occasion. For her, what happened to their brother is
a miracle from God. “I’ve always heard people
talk about people winning cars etc in my ears, I’ve
never seen the person it happened to. But I can now tell you
that it has now happened to my brother. It has happened to
us. Henceforth, I have become an ambassador of Glo. We have
become a Glo Family.
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