Inside the prestigious Paris Ritz Hotel in 2005, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr, whose telecommunications company, Globacom Limited was fast establishing a reputation as the biggest supporter of football in Africa made a declaration that has come to define the colour and tone of the African Football Awards.

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ARRIVAL… Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr and FIFA President, Joseph Sepp Blatter arriving for the GLO-CAF awards ceremony held at Eko Expo Centre, Eko Hotels, LagosThe occasion was the signing of the partnership between Globacom and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

In the presence of big wigs of CAF, Adenuga made a solemn promise in the following words; “Globacom in the next five years will raise the bars in the quality of the awards organisation. We will touch lives in Africa, especially those of the African youths who find expression for their talents through football”.

Five years after, Issa Hayatou, the President of CAF affirmed that Globacom has lived up to the promise made in Paris. In his welcome address at a brief ceremony to sign the contract extension on August 26, 2010 at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Hayatou said the involvement of Globacom in the annual African Football Awards ceremony has highlighted the beauty and talent of African football to the world.

“During the last five years, Globacom has taken the awards to new dimensions by their association. We urge them to double their efforts to improve upon their past records to make the event amongst the best on the global scene”, the CAF President remarked.

Globacom’s Head of Sponsored Assets, Mrs Sarafa_Yusuf Omodele, who represented Dr. Adenuga Jr at the signing ceremony said the next five years of partnership with CAF will be focused on adding fresh perspectives and greater value to the awards.

In her words, “Globacom is a young African Company and it is not a surprise that football is our passion too. In the last five years, we have been more involved in football at different levels in many countries on the continent and the extension of this partnership is a demonstration of our willingness to do more for African Football and African youth in partnership with CAF.”

Sarafa-Yusuf said that in the years ahead, Globacom will add fresh perspectives to the awards ceremony. “Globacom consistently seeks out fresh values to deliver to our business partners and for the GLO-CAF Awards, “ we will in the next five years in partnership with CAF add fresh perspectives and greater value to the awards.

It is our plan to build an iconic brand out of the ceremony in line with obtainable best practices associated with similar events globally. In this direction, Globacom will introduce customized award trophies that will, at all times, be a recognizable icon for the African football awards”.

For Globacom and CAF, it has been a partnership that has brought mutual benefits, a fact that was aptly captured by Habuba Suleiman, the CAF Communications Director when he said, “the fact that the two organizations have accepted to renew a partnership after five years means that it has been a rewarding relationship. Five years of working together and agreeing to continue is not very common in corporate partnership”.

Tracking the company’s involvement in the organisation of the awards, Mr. Adewale Sangowawa, the Executive Director, Human Resources at Globacom said the company has fulfilled the promise to deliver world class ceremonies made in 2005 when CAF accepted to offer Globacom the title sponsorship of the event.

According to him, “through the GLO-CAF Awards, Globacom has made African players to be proud of their accomplishments in the field of football. This, we consider the highest point of our involvement with the awards and we are determined to take the event to higher heights in the years ahead”.

That Globacom has added chips on the status of the awards ceremony has over the years been demonstrated by the attendance of high profile football personalities and political leaders.

In the last five years, the roll-call of guests include the FIFA President, Joseph Sepp Blatter, the UEFA President and former French National Team captain, Mitchel Platini, CONCAF President and FIFA Vice-President, Jack Warner and a host of other top executives of world football administration. Among the Heads of State that have graced the ceremony during the same period are the then President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the then President of Ghana, John Kuffour, a former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings and former Togolese Prime Minister, Komlan Mally.

Part of the value that Globacom has added to the award is the increasing desire of nominees to attend the ceremony which in the past was serially boycotted.

That the awards ceremony has become a fixture in world football calendar is attested to by the fact that European clubs no longer hesitate to release African players to attend the ceremony as has been witnessed with the surge in attendance by nominees. Globacom achieved this by making convenient arrangements for the nominees to be flown in and out of the event in chartered jets.

Globacom places much value on Africa and African arts and the company has exploited the global attention on the awards ceremony to show-case the best of African music, dance and art. But then, international flavour was not missing as a twin act of German magicians was introduced at the 2009 ceremony in Accra, Ghana.