Kano December 12, 2011: Nigeria’s fastest growing telecommunications company Etisalat over the weekend presented the first set of winners of the 9ja free credit promo with the prize money of $10,000 each in Abuja and Kano respectively. Binyamin Zubairu, a civil servant with the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria was the second subscriber to be presented with his $10,000 reward in a presentation made by the senior management team of Etisalat in Kano.

When he received a call from the Etisalat Nigeria office in Kano, informing him that he had won the sum of $10,000 in the ongoing 9ja Free Credit Promo, the Zaria-born Bilyaminu Zubairu thought it was nothing but a big joke. Not even a follow-up call from the Kano branch of First Bank could convince him.

Speaking shortly after receiving his $10,000 cheque from the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, Zubairu disclosed that it took the untiring efforts of Etisalat staff to convince him that he had won the money. “I feel so happy winning this. It is unbelievable. At first I thought it was another 419 game. What really surprised me was how the Etisalat Nigeria officials were persistent in finding me and ensured that I didn’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. One would have thought that I would be the one chasing them but that wasn’t the case. This is proof that Etisalat really cares about its customers”. He said.

“When I got the call, I was on my way to Kano from Zaria for a training seminar at the Industrial Training Fund, Kano. So, on arrival at Kano, I told my colleagues that several people had been calling me with the news that I had won $10,000 from Etisalat. Some of them told me that this was nothing but 419 and I agreed with them, since that was my initial thought. I later got another call from First Bank with the same message and I told them that I had received a similar call earlier, but was convinced it was 419. The bank official then went ahead to explain that it was not 419, but a reward from the Etisalat 9ja Free Credit promo. “

After the call from First Bank, Zubairu said he decided to go to the Etisalat Kano office to confirm. But he never went. It took the determined efforts of the Etisalat Nigeria staff that went looking for him at ITF, Kano to finally convince him that it was true. Having received the reward money, the 21 year-old says he plans to use it to develop a plot of land he bought earlier in Zaria.

Speaking on the development, Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Wael Ammar expressed satisfaction with the positive impact the promo has had on Etisalat subscribers like Zubairu. He said the company decided to extend the promotion in response to the feedback from customers who were delighted at the promo offering, as well as its commitment to constantly meet the needs of its customers. He disclosed that between June and November this year, Etisalat Nigeria gave out over N3.5 billion airtime to more than 6.5 million subscribers in the promotion.

According to him, the promo is open to both new and existing Etisalat customers on Easy Starter, 0809Uchoose, Handset bundle packages, Easy Cliq, enuff yarn+, Talkzone, SME Prepaid, eliteworld (prepaid and postpaid) and Classic Postpaid.

Daily draws will be carried out and prize presentations to winners done weekly in five different locations across the country, namely Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Port-Harcourt and Kano.