MCSAites, Others Emerge Winners at Dentsu Agyle Business Pitch

By Faith Enang and Esther Eiyegbeni

A final year student of the Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos, Chelsea Jegede, emerged as the Dentsu Agyle business pitch diamond grant winner yesterday.

The event which held at the Theatre Hall, Creative Arts Department, UNILAG, featured a masterclass themed Women Leading Change: Empowering the Next Generation of Creative Mavericks. Afterwards, 10 students were selected to pitch their businesses applying all they’ve learnt. 

Jegede had pitched her foundation, the Selfless Hearts Foundation, and its upcoming techathon to win the 700,000 naira grant and a six-month internship with JCDecaux Media.

The platinum award of 600,000 naira sponsored by EyeKontact went to Jessica Ezechi, a Law student. Her pitch was on an imaginary brand named Savory Soups.  

Morayo Odunsi from the Botany department won the gold award of 500,000 naira courtesy of Tomike Adeoye. Additionally, she got a three-month internship with EyeKontact. She had also pitched the Savory Soups imaginary brand.

Another final-year student of Mass Communication, Marta Adekoya-Cole, won the silver award after pitching her proposed business – Kandie Shoppe. She went home with the sum of 350,000 naira.

The fifth position and bronze award went to Christianah Fadeyi. Fadeyi, an English student pitched the launch of a fintech brand, Trailblazer,s and was awarded a 250,000 naira grant.

Other students also won big at the event. Moyosoreoluwa Azeez, a 300-level student of Mass Comm won 100,000 naira for being the Most Driven student in the hall. And Blessing Bello, a 300-level student of Nursing, won another 100,000 for being the Earliest Bird present.

How they heard about the event…

While speaking with UnilagSun after the event yesterday, the winners heard about the masterclass from various channels. They explained that they attended with the intention of learning, not even knowing about the business pitch afterwards.

For Jegede, she got the information from a family member and was only contacted to share the event with her classmates. 

Her words, “I heard about the Dentsu Agyle program through a family member and the person introduced me to one of the organisers. I was initially meant to publicise, as per a student in the department of Mass Communication so I did.”

The publicity done on these class groups was what informed the other winners from Mass Communication as evident in their comments. While Azeez had seen “posters of the event everywhere – online, people’s status, Mass comm groups”, Adekoya-Cole heard about it on her “departmental group chat.”

Odunsi was informed by “a friend who saw the billboards at NewHall Bus-Stop”, Bello heard from her departmental president, Akinola Olayinka; Fadeyi and Ezechi saw the billboards at different locations, and the rest is history.

The thrill of winning…

Winning a grant for a business pitch you had only two minutes to present is daunting for any student. But for the winners of Dentsu Agyle, yesterday ended in a rather unexpected way. 

Jegede said, “The same person who told me about the event also pushed me to try and pitch because I initially didn’t think I was going to make it. 

“So, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. The worst would be that I’d come back home and everything. And so, I did. The process was tense because we were asked questions at different stages, but God came through. 

“I feel excited about winning this. It just let me know that my education is not totally…will I say useless? Because these are things we were taught in class. Particularly by my lecturer, Dr. Shaibu. I’d like to thank him very much for teaching us in a practical way where we can apply these things.’

Ezechi who attended because of two people on the guest lineup – Joke Silva and Chioma Ude – did not see the win coming.

Her words, “I’m excited that I won. I didn’t plan that this was going to be how my day was going to turn out but all in all, I’m grateful to God and grateful to Dentsu Agyle for putting this together.”

In Odunsi’s case, she was just too excited to have won Tomike Adeoye’s prize considering that she (Odunsi) is a staunch follower of the influencer. 

“ I feel so blessed. I’d never have expected this. I just wanted to try my best. Then, I ended up winning this grant,” she said.

Having faltered at the beginning of her pitch, and given a second chance to present, Adekoya-Cole’s silver win was a huge shock to everyone. “I’m elated because I was not expecting it. But I’m happy that I just put myself out there and won,” she stated.

Final words…

“To Dentsu and all the sponsors, I want to thank you for believing in the dreams of young girls. Thank you for giving us the platform and the opportunity to believe in our dreams and act them out, because we are the future truly. 

“One day, we’ll look back and remember this day. Our days of humble beginnings, and also reciprocate the good done to us, by giving other young girls, other young people, the opportunity given to us.” – Chelsea Jegede

“The event was great. It was empowering. It was transformative. So, thank you to Dentsu Agyle for this opportunity.” – Blessing Bello

“I want to thank my lecturers, Dr Shaibu and Prof Tejumaiye. Throughout the program, everything they’ve taught in class worked experimentally. 

“And also Mr Sam Ejiwunmi. All the things he had us do, all the presentations, all of these helped. I’m just really grateful.

“To the sponsors, I want to say thank you. It was a wholesome experience and I learned a lot.” – Moyosoreoluwa Azeez

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