And the Winner is…
By Rachel Ogbu
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Indications from the last televised scene in The Apprentice Africa show favour Isaac Dankyi-Koranteng, the Ghanaian to win the ultimate crown
The Apprentice Africa Business Reality Show ends this week and one of the two finalists would work away with a brand new car and a job with Bank PHB, the sponsors of the TV show. There, he or she would earn $200,000, or its equivalent of N23 million for one year. Eunice Omole, 28-year-old Nigerian born in the United States and Isaac Dankyi-Koranteng, 30-year-old Ghanaian are left after 17 tasking weeks to battle for the ultimate job. A lot of speculations went on last week, about the winner. Some even referred to the battle for the ultimate crown as war of the sexes. Others said it is a contest between homegrown and the Diaspora.
Many Nigerians naturally are on Omole's side. She has been described as strong and articulate. She is perceived to have good communication skills and exuded great confidence even when the heat of the boardroom was on her. Although she's been on the elimination seat about seven times, Omole still fought a brave battle to remain in the show to the very end.
However, some of her attributes fell short of the judges' expectation and these could count against her in the final judgment. They see her as blunt, selfish and not a team player. The fact that she was on the elimination seat seven times is also a minus for her.
Omole has tried to use her active professional and social lifestyle to woo Biodun Sobanjo, boss of the show to her side. She acquired her Bachelor's degree in Economics from University of Virginia, and a Masters Degree in Real Estate from Cornell University. She is currently an MBA student at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. Omole is a managing partner at New Frontiers Investment LLC, a real estate development and investment company in China. She is endowed with a natural sex appeal which some believe is an attribute that may be an advantage. She has often said that she feels uncomfortable around unusually quiet people, because according to her, "you can never know what they are thinking."
Dankyi-Koranteng, the second contender is a perfect example of a quiet man. The Ghanaian-born father of one has been perceived as a quiet but very intelligent young man. He is often described as being reserved even though his ideas have been acknowledged as the best the show has witnessed.
Paul Olaleye, adviser to Sobanjo said Dankyi-Koranteng the last male standing is a total package, "For Isaac, I've seen him come through from the back, he was responsible for most of the wins in Zulu Corporation in the early days. He is the wholesome apprentice, he's won three tasks," he said.
Omowunmi Fatodu, who is also the boss's adviser said: "In Isaac I see a quiet achiever with guts and passion to achieve - to win, he's a very strong project manager - he's won all the tasks. About Eunice, she said, "she's not been consistent in terms of wins - even as a team player, she hasn't played as a strong team player in some tasks but she's come this far."
These analyses have put Dankyi-Koranteng in the forefront of the race though Omole will not go down without a fight. Last week, the finalists were given their last task on the show to create an interactive walk-through event around the theme 'Experience Bank PHB.' "Both of you are senior executives in your own rights, so for this task you will be requiring employees, and we have assembled a pool of six candidate who were your former teammates. However, they cannot be held responsible for your failure," Sobanjo said.
Deox Tibeingana, 30, Ugandan, Tunde Ojikutu, 28, Nigerian, Regina Agyare, 25, Ghanaian, Blessing Njokwu, 31, Nigerian, Nnamdi Anthony Mbonu, 28, Nigerian and Kathleen Ndongmo, 28, from Cameroon, were the prospective employees. So Omole and Dankyi-Koranteng had to choose three contestants each to work with them on this task. In order to determine who chose first, the CEO had to conduct a coin toss. Fortunately, Omole who now needs more luck won this toss, and had to pick first. She picked Ojikutu, Ndongmo and Njokwu while Dankyi-Koranteng picked Agyare, Mbonu and Tibeingana.
The intrigue began almost immediately as Dankyi-Koranteng lamented his loss of Njokwu to Omole. He expressed in clear terms that he had wanted her on his team and Njoku felt the same way. She said she was surprised Omole picked her, adding that she wished she was working with Dankyi-Koranteng. Without mincing words, Njokwu said that she disliked Omole and would want Dankyi-Koranteng to win. "My situation now is like that of a medical doctor whose enemy has just been brought to her hospital, and this enemy needs my help to survive. Now do I obey my professional calling and save her life, or do I just extract my pound of flesh?"
Omole's chances of winning the show became slimmer when Ojikutu, who she also picked on her team, came out with his own revelation. "It's not news that I really don't like Eunice. I had wanted to work with Isaac," he said. Omole struggled to make peace with her rebellious employees. But somehow, during the interviews with all the six contestants in trying to find out how they felt about their employers, all seemed to disapprove of her.
At the end of the task, the two finalists faced their judges in the boardroom. The CEO quizzed them on issues bordering on how they felt about making it to the finals. Dankyi-Koranteng said that despite the fact that he was confident that he would make it to the final. He also knew that it was going to be a big challenge. Omole said that she had seen herself in the finals right from the first day of the competition. They both lauded their employees' efforts, commending the job they did. They gave the CEO a summary of how the task had gone for them as individuals having to work with their former housemates in the capacity of employers. "When we started this competition, we began with the battle of the sexes. Now finally we're here with one male and one female," Sobanjo said.
Turning to Dankyi-Koranteng, the CEO asked if he felt that Omole had an advantage over him because she was educated in the United States. He replied: "I believe education is universal, it doesn't matter where you get it but how you get it."
Finally, the CEO offered his summary, "I believe we've been very fair to everybody. At the end of the day I'm going to hire only one apprentice," he said. Sobanjo also made it clear that he has been responsible for all the decision taken in his boardroom, and will be responsible for the final decision.
With all the criticisms and attacks on Omole, only a miracle or maybe another toss of coin, would save her on the day of verdict which would be done in front of a live audience in Lagos.
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