Well, i first of all want to thank them for finally releasing the funds promised us. i apologise for all my outburst, but i urge them to ensure there is always a link of communication between them and the winners. it was this lack of communication that made me feel they were scam as for over six months i did not hear from them, could not reach them through calls and none of my facebook messages were ever replied

Have you contacted the other winners? Do you know that the money is a loan that is repayable in 18 months? Kindly contact some of the people who were winners during your set and let us know their current situation with them. Thanks

My attention was just drawn to this your post @dominusgai. I would reply you shortly

dominusgai:
Hello Nairaland moderator, am not trying to be on the front page but I do believe Nigerian youths need this information regarding one ignite idea business competition so as not to let them waste their time trying to fill the form for the competition.
Let me tell my story. I filled for the first ignite idea competition and I received a mail that I won. They.told me I had to come for a meeting that will have the then governor Fashola present. I was then in Delta and I had to cut short what I was doing to rush to Lagos. At that meeting, the then governor told us that the government had dropped 100 million naira to be given as loan to 1000 people
And that is when the stringing along began. They called us for about 3 different meeting and for each mail we where clearly addressed as winners so there was no mistaking that we where not winners. I went despite the inconvenience to me as I had to leave work to attend each of them. Then finally they gave us a first bank account opening form and I filled mine. They then recalled us to a grand event once again with the then governor fashola.
But after that grand event, I received a mail from them that I had never submit my business plan which was strange as I did that from the first day. I did not argue but I submited it again.
But alas, they never got back to me. It's been over six months. I sent mails and Facebook messages but they never replied. But only for them to start putting scanty pics of the winners of the competition.
In a competition that was supposed to have 1100 winners, they posted pictures of only about 20 people. Please you can confirm from their Facebook page. What happened to the rest winners?And mind you, the Lagos government had already dropped the money for 1000 winners.
Now they have begun the batch 2 of the same competition
And the most annoying thing is that they had the effrontery to use our group picture with gangplank on their Facebook page and congratulated all of us as winners when they only gave about 20 people. In fact I am considering reporting the matter to EFCC.
Pleas find attached our pictired with Fashola and reference the number of people in the picture with the number of winners in their Facebook page.

Good morning @dominusgai, my name is Oke, Communications Manager at Ignite ideas Business Contest.

AGDC, Mrs. Awosika, (Who is the brain behind the whole Ignite Ideas Contest and the Chairman of the board of Director of First Bank https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/about-us/the-leadership/board-of-directors/ibukun-abiodun-awosika), Generation Enterprise, Lagos State Government and every partner involved in the Ignite Ideas project remain highly committed to keeping the promise we made to youth entrepreneurs in Lagos.

It's unfortunate that you had to go through what you did, I apologise on behalf of Ignite Contest. I must admit we had some teething challenges with the first batch which has all been resolved.

If only you have looked through our previous posts on our communication portal: [www.facebook.com/igniteideascontest], every single issue you raised have been properly addressed.

I cannot exactly say why you didn't get an email from us as you said but I am certain we sent emails and followed up with everyone that had issues.

In a competition that was supposed to have 1100 winners, they posted pictures of only about 20 people:
The 1100 winners is not for just one batch. The 1100 is the total number of winners in all batches. We started posting pictures of Ignite Beneficiaries just over 2 months ago which is about 10 weeks ago. We post one beneficiary per week. In about 10 weeks, you would expect 10 beneficiaries to have been posted and that is exactly what is on our page.

The number of winners in the first batch also reduced a little because of beneficiaries having challenges with meeting up First Bank Microfinance requirements.

Please, let's refrain from misrepresenting a high integrity project that has helped over 140 young entrepreneurs find their footing in entrepreneurship.

Kindly drop your phone number, i would call you and follow up on the issues you had. In the meantime, i ask for calm and levelheadedness. The integrity of the project and everyone involved in it should not be called into question unnecessarily.

You can always reach us on:
+2348178815176
finalists@igniteideas.org

bhmw:
Have you contacted the other winners? Do you know that the money is a loan that is repayable in 18 months? Kindly contact some of the people who were winners during your set and let us know their current situation with them. Thanks

Thank you

well, sorry for the angry burst, its just that it is so frustrating when having met all the requirements and gone through all the stress, i don't even receive a call from the bank only to see you guys have started batch 2. it was only about some days after this post i was called to start processing my loan. Every of the contacts i know did not recieve calls from any bank too. i am hoping to finalize the process and as soon as i do i will bring this post down. u check it out now. if u wre in my shoes how would u feel? No calls, text, no contacts to reach you guys. i send u facebook messages you don't reply. that is over 6 months after the finale. my number is 08032161338

when you eventually get the loan for your business, do not hesitate to open an apology thread for Ignite Ideas Business Contest. Regards