Wesabi’s Murtala Sani Emerges ARM DAAYTA 2019 Award Winner, Gets 12m Prize

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Asset and Resource Management Holding Company Limited (ARM) on Friday, April 12, unveiled the winner of its prestigious Deji Alli ARM Young Talent Award (DAAYTA 2019).

The event which held at Four Points by Sheraton Hotels Victoria Island saw Mr Murtala Sani emerge winner of the award. He won with his business idea called WeSabi, and carted away the ₦12,000,000 prize money.

DAAYTA 2019: Winner of Prestigious Award Emerges as ARM Gives Back to Society through its CSR Program
Winner of DAAYTA 2019, Mr Murtala Sani

Established in 2015 as part of ARM’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the programme aims at educating and empowering the younger generation to make meaningful socio-economic impacts in their immediate environment and the nation at large. The award was named after the company’s founding CEO, Mr Deji Alli.

Application for this year’s award opened in November 2018. More than 500 applications were received out of which 20 were initially selected.

After further screening, six candidates were eventually selected for the finals.

 Mr Sani’s business proposition, WeSabi was eventually declared winner by a team of four judges which included: Victor Asemota, the Africa Partner for Alta Global Ventures; Founder of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe; Sadiq Deputy Group CEO of ARM Group, Sadiq Mohammed; and Group Chief Sustainability and Governance Officer of Dangote Group, Dr. Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien.

Participants at the event

Mr Sani’s idea is an initiative created to help households find reliable and pre-screened artisans in their neighbourhood through a website, mobile app and a USSD platform. The goal is to ‘build Africa’s marketplace for the blue-collar sector.

The prize money of ₦12,000,000 will be disbursed over a period of one year.  

The fund would help Mr Sani develop his business plan, complete a 5-month entrepreneurial education at the Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Centre in Lagos, and also to receive support for development of his venture WeSabi through an accelerator programme.

Speaking about the event, Managing Director of ARM Academy, Ms Uche Azubuike expressed her happiness with the company’s ability to empower yet another startup through its CSR.

“There is a lot going on in the ecosystem right now, a lot of support from experienced people and from technology as well. So I would advise the winners to take advantage of that and make an impact. On behalf of ARM, I extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Murtala Sani, all finalists and applicants; and my appreciation to our esteemed judges and everyone in attendance for their time at DAAYTA 2019.”

Ms Uche Azubuike, Managing Director of ARM Academy
Mr Murtala Sani with Ms Jumoke Ogundare, CEO, ARM Holding Company


Other impressive solutions also emerged from the event. Chekkit by Dare Odumade is an anti-counterfeiting solution which addresses the problem of counterfeiting, pilferage and inefficient supply of products. Daniel Odediran’s PrestPro is an interesting solution which aims to produce an energy-saving cooling system using clay for the preservation of freshly plucked tomatoes in order to extend their shelf life.

Tech Strategy Advisor and Founder of TechnoVision Mr. Tomi Davies stated lauded the judges and the finalists while noting that the event deviated from traditional pitch events.

“I especially like the fact that the finalists had worked with each other before the event and bonded enough to help each other. At the end of the day, each of the 5 finalists that participated was a winner and went home with a prize and we all agreed that Murtala Sani of Wesabi deserved the first prize,” he said.


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