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Sponsorship As a Potent Force in The Journey of Life
In this piece, Chuks Oluigbo reviews Omo-Ojo Ernest Ivie’s The Potent Force of Sponsorship.
In choosing the title of his book, ‘The Potent Force of Sponsorship’, Omo-Ojo Ernest Ivie consciously uses the word ‘potent’ to demonstrate the power, efficacy, potency of the force of sponsorship, which, according to him, is “the very principle that rules the world”.
And the author demonstrates, in six chapters and 86 pages, that “the world runs on sponsorship” – it is there in the businesses/corporate world, entertainment industry, churches or religious organisations, politics, sports, etc. But there are also 15 preliminary pages that include endorsements, dedication and introduction.
The book, a bold attempt to change mindsets, answers the critical questions – Who is a sponsor? Why do we need a sponsor? Can you reach your zenith without a sponsor? Do we confuse a mentor with a sponsor? Does the world run on sponsorship? Is it scriptural and spiritual?
Going through, one cannot miss the nuggets that dominate the entire book, nuggets that essentially speak to the critical place of sponsorship in every phase of human life and career. But beyond these nuggets, the author calls readers to be strategic in positioning themselves to be identified by potential sponsors as, according to him, “Life without a sponsor cannot reach its zenith.”
‘The Potent Force of Sponsorship’ opens with an introduction, where the author emphasises that while having a mentor is good, a sponsor is actually more critical than a mentor. Indeed, he says, sponsorship is “the most useful of the success chains” as “all the coaching and mentoring” would be useless “if you do not have a platform to showcase all you have learnt”.“A mentor is good,” he argues, “but having a good mentor without a sponsor is time and energy wasted.”
The opening chapter, titled “Who is a Sponsor?”, traces the word ‘sponsor’ from its Latin origins and offers various definitions from different sources. Some qualities of a sponsor highlighted in this chapter include that a sponsor announces your arrival to the stage; makes room for you; sponsors are very impatient and very strategic; they are visionary – they see opportunities well ahead; they usually have big egos; they could charge a fee; they could demand rewards; and they do not operate based on emotions.
“Sponsorship does not happen by accident. It is deliberate, thought over, planned and executed. It takes a lot for someone to agree to undertake a sponsorship; it demands responsibility from both partners. Most times the person sponsoring must find value before embarking on the mission.
It does not come cheap, it is expensive and as such you have to earn it, there are no emotions about it, which is why it is not a philanthropic movement,” the author says.
He goes ahead in Chapter Two to clearly distinguish between sponsors and mentors, two distinct roles, he says, people often tend to confuse. While “a mentor is someone inside or outside your organisation who can give advice, feedback and encouragement”, the author defines a sponsor as “someone within or outside your organisation who has positional and political influence to help you move your career or life forward. Sponsors provide leads to advancement and growth”.
Using Biblical examples, the author in the third chapter attempts to show that the world runs and has always run on sponsorship; that even God himself understands this concept and used it.
To illustrate this point, he cites the examples of Jesus and John the Baptist, David and Jonathan,Moses and Pharaoh’s daughter, Naaman and the Jewish maid (2 Kings 5:1-26), Rebecca and Jacob (Gen. 27:5-30), Joseph and the Cupbearer (Gen. 41), Ruth and Naomi (Ruth Chapter 2), Saul, the first king of Israel (1 Samuel 9: 6-20), Jesus at the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6: 1-10), among others.
Arguing that John was the sponsor of Jesus, the author buttresses his argument by pointing out that John announced Jesus’ arrival on stage when he said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world”, and made room for Jesus when he said, “He will increase and I will decrease”.
The author says, “You can never tell where your next breakthrough would come from as the next person to you may just be the sponsor you have been waiting for; so do not despise small beginnings.”
He adds, “We all need leveraging, don’t despise the power of leveraging, it’s the difference why two people who set out on the same journey same day to the same destination arrive differently.”
In Chapter Four, the author, using contemporary examples, demonstrates that the sponsorship principle is a reality of our time which you ignore or hate at your own peril.
“This principle today defines the essence of politics, government, business, religion, entertainment, sports, etc. It is the single game changer or decider of who gets what, why, where and how. If you hate or fail to recognise and operate in this principle, your chances of succeeding and reaching your zenith are greatly diminished,” he says.
He cites the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa as an example of a sponsor in Pentecostal Christianity, Don King in world boxing, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in Nigerian politics, while he also uses immediate past United States President Barack Obama to show a great beneficiary of the sponsorship principle.
“You must strive to get to a position where your sponsor will believe so much in you and would have no alternative to you, which speaks volume about loyalty and trust. This principle is not ‘ojoro’ (deceit), this is how the world operates and your feelings cannot change it. Instead of being frustrated by it, key into this principle,” he admonishes.
In the fifth chapter, the author highlights some qualities one needs to develop in order to attract a sponsor. These include develop your skills (both hard and soft skills); humility to learn; patience; perseverance; loyalty, and trust.
“The path to sponsorship discovery,” he says, “involves a series of steps. Essentially, you must believe in this immutable principle of human existence as it governs the affairs of men. You must realise that life’s success is not only a determinant of the most skilled, most talented and most hardworking, but time and chance happen to men. It takes a lot of effort and focus to tap into this principle.”
In this sixth and final chapter, the author sums up the discussion using some personal examples to show how the sponsorship principle has worked in his life and calls his readers to action.
“My entire life has been about sponsorship; if it worked for me it can for you. Don’t go on this journey of life without a sponsor; the pains and headaches are too much to bear and it is certainly not worth it. Sponsors shorten time, distance, space and generally give you a leveraging advantage,” he says.
For the author, the sponsorship principle is something experiential. And like the author, if we also look very closely at our lives, we may see that the principle the author has espoused in the book is what many of us probably have experienced all along.
At every phase in our lives or career, we have had someone speak on our behalf, recommend us for an assignment, a job or a position.
The only difference is that we may not have given a name to it. And while we may have been thinking sponsorship is accidental, the author says it is not and calls us to be strategic as we go about positioning ourselves to be identified by potential sponsors.
Essentially, what the author has done in ‘The Potent Force of Sponsorship’ is that he has gathered our collective experience, using his personal experience and those of a few others, and given it a potent voice, an expression. It reminds one of what Alexander Pope says in his definition of poetry – or what he calls “true wit”: “What oft was thought but ne’er so well expressed”.
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Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday adjourned the $150 million dollars suit filed by Chianugo Peter, a Nigerian, against Google LLC and GoDaddy.com LLC over shutdown of his YouTubeAudio.com domain name until April 22 for hearing.
The case, which was before Justice Obiora Egwuatu, could not proceed due to the absence of the judge in today’s proceedings.
Although Emmanuel Ekpenyong, Peter’s lawyer, and Mark Mordi, who is counsel to Google LLC, were in court, Justice Egwuatu was said to be in another official assignment.
The matter was consequently fixed for April 22 for hearing.
Peter had filed the suit over allegations bordering on the shutdown of his YouTubeAudio.com domain name after eight years of promotional and marketing efforts in breach of the contract.
Peter, through his lawyer, named GoDaddy.Com LLC and Google LLC as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suit filed on April 14, 2023 and marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/238/2023.
In his earlier originating summons filed by Ekpenyong of the law firm of Fred-Young & Evans LP, the Nigerian sought a $150 million in compensation from Google LLC and GoDaddy.com LLC for the alleged cyberspace contract breach.
The plaintiff alleged that the defendants shut down his domain and business name: YouTubeAudio.com and transferred the rights over the name to Google LLC, an American multinational technology company.
Google LLC, in its initial statement of defence dated Nov. 9, 2023, and filed Nov. 10, 2023, by its lawyer, Mr Mordi, SAN, of the law firm of Aluko & Oyebode, urged the court to dismiss Peter’s suit as being unmeritorious and lacking in merits.
Justice Egwuatu had, in April 2024, gave Chianugo Peter the go-ahead to amend his originating processes after his lawyer moved the application for same and it was not opposed by the defence counsel.
In his amended statement of claim dated April 29, 2024, Peter sought ten reliefs.
He sought a declaration that GoDaddy.com was wrong to shut down the YouTubeAudio.com domain name on Dec. 7, 2022 and that Google was wrong to remove “YTAudio” with its website youtubeaudio.com from its Google PlayStore on Dec. 25, 2023 without adequate compensation to him.
He said this is notwithstanding that YouTubeAudio.com domain and business name is different and distinct from YouTube trademarks.
Chianugo Peter wants the court to declare that he is entitled to compensation from the defendants for the loss of the YouTubeAudio.com brand and goodwill which has accrued on the brand and domain name for eight years of promotional and marketing works from July 2, 2015 to Dec. 7, 2022.
He sought an order directing the defendants to pay the sum of $50 million to him for promotional and marketing works on the YouTube Audio business name and YouTube Audio.com domain name for eight years from July 2, 2015 to Dec. 7, 2022.
He sought a $100 million in damages for loss of anticipated profits associated with the brand equity and goodwill of YouTube Audio and YouTube Audio.com domain name.
Peter also sought from the defendants, the sum of 50 million naira to enable him to carry out fresh registrations of its new name and secure an alternative domain name to host its application to attract users.
The Nigerian sought an order directing the defendants to pay the sum of 10 million naira to him for prosecution of the suit.
Alternatively, Peter prayed the court for an order for GoDaddy.com to reinstate and hoist the YouTubeAudio.com domain name which was shut down on Dec. 7, 2022 and for Goggle to also reinstate YouTubeAudio.com on its Google PlayStore platform which was unilaterally removed on Dec. 25, 2023.
Chianugo Peter submitted that he acquired rights over YouTubeAudio.com domain name from Go Daddy.com LLC who conducted a search before confirming that he could make use of the name.
The plaintiff averred that he promoted the domain and business name from 2014 to 2022 and even wrote to Google to introduce YouTubeAudio’s services and to partner with it in 2014 and 2021 but received no response from it on both occasions.
He said in February 2021, he applied for and YouTubeAudio.com was registered on Google Adsense platform for displaying advertisement on the website.
Besides, Peter said in August 2021, the domain and business name was registered on Google Playstore.
According to him, the plaintiff consistently paid GoDaddy.com LLC for registration and use of the domain name from 2015 to 2022.
But Google LLC, in its amended statement of defence and counterclaim dated and filed May 31, 2024, averred that its registration of the YOUTUBE trademarks at the Trademarks Registry gives it the exclusive night to the use of the said trademarks.
It submitted that it has incurred expenses in the sum of 24,040 64 dollars in dealing with Peter’s “deliberate infringement of the counterclaimant’s YOUTUBE trademarks.”
The company, therefore, sought a declaration that Peter’s registration and use of the YouTubeAudio business name with BN 2395035 at the CAC is an infringement of its YOUTUBE registered trademarks.
It prayed the court for an order directing Peter to pay the company the total sum of $24,040.64 being the expenses incurred in dealing with his infringement of the YOUTUBE registered trademarks.
It equally sought an order directing the plaintiff to pay the company the cost of defending the suit.
In his amended reply to Google’s amended statement of defence dated 12th July 2024, Peter responded that it is not in doubt that Google LLC owns YouTube trademarks, however, YouTubeAudio is distinct and different from YouTube trademarks.
Chianugo Peter submitted that Google LLC, being a foremost search engine in the world, knew that he had earlier written to it, that he was making use of the YouTubeAudio domain name for the past eight years without any objection or caveat by either GoDaddy.com or Google.
“Hence, Google LLC is estopped from claiming any right over the YouTubeAudio domain name,” he said.
GoDaddy.com LLC had neither filed any process nor represented in court.
LG Electronics has announced the launch of a nationwide campaign aimed at celebrating decades of customer loyalty and technological heritage by searching for the oldest still-functioning LG television sets across the country.
The initiative, themed “The Oldest LG TV”, seeks to honour long-time customers whose LG screens have stood the test of time, while introducing them to the future of home entertainment through LG’s advanced AI QNED TVs.
For generations, LG televisions have been more than an electronic device in Nigerian homes, they have been silent witnesses to family milestones, cultural moments and shared memories.
This campaign bridges nostalgia with innovation, acknowledging the emotional connection Nigerians have built with the brand while showcasing LG’s leadership in AI-powered display technology.
The campaign features a storytelling -driven narrative that highlights community, heritage and the evolution of viewing experiences. Participants are invited to share the stories behind their long-serving LG TVs, transforming everyday screens into symbols of trust, resilience and innovation.
In creative twist, the campaign also introduces LG’s AI-enabled televisions as responsive companions that understand viewer preferences, recommend content and enhance picture quality in real time. This shift from nostalgia to futuristic interactivity underscores LG’s continued commitment to delivering smarter, more personalized entertainment solutions.
To participate, simply visit https://lgsearchcampaign.vercel.app/ upload a photo or video of your old LG TV and share the story behind it – how long you’ve had it and the memories it holds.
The winner walks away with a brand-new LG AI QNED TV, effectively trading legacy for luxury.
At its core, this campaign reminds us that technology is not only about pixels and processors, but about people. It’s about the laughter in the living rooms, the silence during tense match moments and the comfort of family routines.
By celebrating the oldest TVs still standing strong, LG is celebrating the people who kept the on, families who trusted the brand through changing times and evolving technologies. In doing so, LG isn’t just upgrading television, it’s upgrading memories into the future.
According to Mr. Choongbae Seok, General Manager, Media Entertainment Solutions, LG Electronics Nigeria, “The journey from our classic CRT Televisions to today’s AI QNED technology reflects how far both our customers and our innovation have come. Those early sets were built to last, and many are still functioning today, a testament to durability and consumer trust. This initiative allows us to honour that legacy while introducing a new era of intelligent viewing, where the screen does more than show content; it adapts, learns and enhances every moment”.
LG Display 2026 TV Models at InnoFest
LG Electronics (LG), a leader in AI-powered solutions for the home, outlined plans to accelerate growth in emerging markets at LG InnoFest 2026 MEA. The event, held in Abu Dhabi, provided a forum to share LG’s strategic direction and market outlook with regional partners. At the exhibition, LG displayed its premium 2026 AI TV lineup focusing heavily on advanced processing power, smarter picture and sound technologies. The flagship OLED evo G6 and 100-inch Micro RGB evo TVs are powered by the new Alpha 11 AI processor Gen 3 enabling faster and more intelligent performance. The OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TV, an ultra-slim television designed to sit flush against the wall like artwork uses true wireless connectivity, reducing cable clutter and creating a cleaner, minimal setup.
African leaders used the AU Summit in Addis Ababa over the weekend to sharpen the continent’s technology agenda, with Ethiopia positioning artificial intelligence (AI), digital infrastructure and connectivity as pillars of Africa’s economic future.
Opening the 39th African Union Summit, Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed outlined an ambitious vision to place Africa at the forefront of the global AI race, anchored by Ethiopia’s plan to launch what he described as Africa’s first AI-focused university.
“In 2020, Ethiopia established Africa’s first Artificial Intelligence Institute. Building on this foundation, we are preparing to launch an AI university anchored in the philosophy of Medemer, purposeful collaboration, to unite human values with machine intelligence and position Africa as a global leader in the age of intelligence,” Abiy told delegates. “
He framed AI not as a standalone sector, but as a cross-cutting enabler for governance, industry and social development. “Every river we manage, every city we design, and every digital platform we deploy must generate resilience, opportunity and dignity,” Abiy said. He further linked digital transformation to Agenda 2063’s long-term prosperity goals.
Beyond AI, the high-powered AU summit discussions highlighted digital identity, cross-border connectivity and telecom expansion as critical building blocks for an integrated African market. Ethiopia’s Digital Ethiopia 2030 roadmap, including its Faida digital ID ecosystem, was cited as a model for secure, interconnected public services.
Abiy pointed to aviation and telecom infrastructure as key accelerators for economic development across the continent. “Through Ethiopian Airlines, we connect people and markets. Ethio Telecom is expanding partnerships across Africa to bridge the digital divide,” he said.
The Ethiopian leader added that large-scale infrastructure projects are designed to anchor Africa deeper into global value chains.
The broader summit tech agenda also touched on regulatory harmonisation, digital trade and data governance, with leaders emphasizing that continental cooperation is essential to avoid fragmented digital markets.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the need for inclusive innovation, telling delegates that Africa’s digital rise must be “people-centered and opportunity-driven,” while African Union Commission Chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf stressed coordinated policy frameworks to accelerate adoption.
“AI capability, digital infrastructure and unified regulation are no longer optional ambitions, but strategic imperatives shaping the continent’s competitiveness in the intelligence era,” he said.
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