In In line with its vision to find new ways to make dreams come true, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings and a member of Standard Bank Group, has awarded 12 creative young Nigerian FUZE Talent Hunt winners with N32 million of naira.

Recently at the FUZE Festival, the FUZE Talent Hunt winners from the music, dance, fashion and technology categories walked away with N5 million naira each.

The first runner-up and second runner-up in each category were also awarded N2 million Naira and N1 million Naira respectively.

In addition to financial support, they will receive industry recognition and access to mentoring opportunities to support their creative careers and ventures.

FUZE Talent Hunt is a curated platform for creative young Nigerians making leaps and bounds in music, dance, fashion and technology. More than 4,000 entries were received digitally through the Stanbic IBTC Events app, 40 contestants were shortlisted for the quarterfinals, 24 contestants made it to the semifinals and 12 made it to the final.

Details of the auditions, contests, and final will be revealed in a three-part episode of FUZE Talent Hunt that will air in the first quarter of 2023 on select media channels across the country.

The top three winners were given the chance to perform live for the first time at the FUZE Festival, which was held at the Livespot Entertainment Centre, Lekki, Lagos; a one-of-a-kind event organized by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers.

Olumide Oyetan, chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, said the organization did well to seek out, discover and empower young talent whose ingenuity deserved to be in the spotlight, noting that “it’s proof of being responsible.”

Olumide stated that the FUZE Festival also allowed Nigerian entrepreneurs to showcase their products at the event for free, thus positioning them for visibility and patronage. She described FUZE as an experience that was created to add positive value to everyone who participated.

Nike Bajomo, Executive Director, Business Development, Stanbic IBTC Pension Administrators, congratulated the winners and thanked all those who worked hard to make the event a remarkable success.

His words: “In addition to being a joyful and exciting undertaking, the FUZE Festival was also shocking and timely. The event was aimed at making Nigerians end 2022 on a high note, regardless of how the rest of the year had gone.”

It was also a full day of fun and excitement at the FUZE Festival. Attendees had a blast enjoying a robust Marketplace with an amazing shopping experience where they purchased items at discounted prices.

The guests also enjoyed fun games with lots of food and drinks, face and body painting for children and adults with many other entertaining activities for people and their families to celebrate Christmas. Nigerian Music Artists – Ladipoe, Teni and Wurld performed and moved the audience at the event.

Also in attendance at the FUZE Ikechukwu Festival were Eric Ahiauzu (Ric Hassani), founder of Riverlands Records, who was a judge in the Music Category; Banke Kuku-Lawson, founder and creative director of Banke Kuku, judged the fashion category; Bunmi Olunloyo, founder and creative director of Bailamos Dance Company judged the dance category, while Stanley Jacob, CEO of Stanbic IBTC Financial Services, judged the technology category.