1
A PROPOSAL ON
9ja
THINKS
...sharpen yourself
(A MATHEMATICS-BASED TV PROGRAMME)
TO
GLOBACOM NIGERIA LIMITED
BY
KALU EBIN KALU
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...... 3
THE CONCEPT...... 4
DESIGN RATIONALE...... 7
BENEFITS TO GLOBACOM...... 8
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS...... 9
CONCLUSION...... 10
INTRODUCTION
The sponsorship of educative television programmes by corporate organizations is a time-tested avenue of getting some of these sponsoring organizations the much-needed popularity, the goodwill of the public and the support of the government.
Mathematics is a subject that inspires feelings of all sorts in persons of all ages. While some find it interesting and as almost a plaything, sadly, it constitutes an aversion for yet others. Interestingly, though, even among those who have a poor understanding of the subject there are many who admire and respect others who are adept in handling mathematical problems. And, of course, most of them have even made efforts in the past to grasp the subject.
Various bodies, governmental and non-governmental alike, have made concerted efforts aimed at kindling interest in the subject. These have all met with little success, especially with respect to inspiring widespread interest in the subject. Perhaps one of such efforts that can be readily brought to mind is the Cowbell Mathematics Competition.
Parents, guardians and teachers will go to great lengths to cultivate the interests of their children, wards and students respectively in the subject. In fact, the society at large will favour anything that will inspire interest in the subject; something that will help change its status of being a foe to that of being a friend.
Considering that ours is a fun-loving society, perhaps there is no better means of achieving this than edutainment. Therefore, I hereby propose Glo 9ja Thinks, a mathematics-based television programme, for sponsorship cum ownership to Globacom Nigeria Limited.
THE CONCEPT
Glo 9ja Thinks is designed to be an hour-long, weekly television programme. It is to be a studio and home participation mathematics-based programme.
QUALIFYING TO PARTICIPATE
Participation should be open to all duly registered subscribers to Globacom.
THE PROGRAMME
· Ten contestants selected from all who have applied for an invitation to the programme for a particular week are invited to sit at designated seats with electronic consoles.
· After the contestants are introduced, they are instructed on how to use the console to input their answers to questions.
· The host reads out a question which simultaneously appears on the television screen alongside the options from which an answer is to be chosen.
· All the contestants are expected to provide an answer each by pushing the button bearing the letter of the alphabet corresponding to their answers of choice within a stipulated time frame.
· When a contestant is unsure of an answer to give, he/she is expected to press a designated button on the console so as to earn 1 point.
· Any contestant who fails to give an answer within the stipulated time frame and fails to push the “unsure” button does not score any point for the question.
· An incorrect answer does not earn a contestant any point.
· A correct answer to any question by a contestant earns him/her 5 points.
· Even after giving an incorrect answer to a question, a contestant might be allowed to continue in the contest until all the questions for the day have been asked.
· A contestant who has given a wrong answer is not permitted to continue in the contest when such an answer is the third consecutive wrong answer by him/her.
· After the contestants have given their responses to a question, the host is to reveal the correct answer.
· A total of fifteen questions are to be asked.
· After all the questions have been asked and answers have been given by the contestants still in the contest, the total point scored by each contestant is computed.
· The contestants that have scored the highest, second highest and the third highest total points of 70 and above are considered prize winners in that order and are given cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. All prize winners must score up to 70 points.
· In the event of a tie, the cash prizes for the positions are summed up and shared between or among the contestants in the tie.
· A consolation prize is given to any contestant who does not win any prize.
· In the event that no contestant makes it to the fifteenth question due to all the contestants giving three consecutive incorrect answers each, then there will be no prize winners for the day. All of the contestants are to be given consolation prizes.
· Cash gifts are given to all members of the studio audience.
· After the prize winners have been named, the members of the public at home are invited to participate by giving an answer to the question that will be asked by means of a text message at a cost to them.
· Fifty prize winners from among the home participants are announced after the next session of the programme the following week.
AFTER THE PROGRAMME
There should be a weekly publication of all the questions and how their answers may be obtained in any of the national newspapers a day after the programme. Also, the pictures and the names, as part of the caption of the pictures, of the first, second and third prize winners during the programme should be published.
DESIGN RATIONALE
Clearly, this programme is aimed at inspiring widespread interest in mathematics. Therefore, considering the psyche of various Nigerians, the concept has been carefully designed to encourage the majority of Nigerians to participate. The rationale behind the nature of the concept is hereby presented.
Considering that persistence is not a possession of all persons, application for participation via text messages is not to be done for an unspecified number of times. Since a subscriber to Globacom is expected to apply only once in a week for a chance to be invited to the studio as one of the ten contestants or as a studio audience member and a homeplay participant is expected to send only one text message in response to a question, much more persons will be encouraged to participate.
The allure for participation is further enhanced by the following:
· 10 contestants at a time implying more chances for invitation
· 3 prize winners are expected to emerge
· Consolation prizes for all non-prize winners
· Cash gifts to the members of the studio audience
· 50 homeplay prize winners
· The publication of one’s picture with an enviable caption in a national newspaper.
All of these imply that there are several palpable opportunities of earning some money or recognition through this programme.
BENEFITS TO GLOBACOM
Following the adoption of this idea, Globacom stands to enjoy the following benefits.
INCOME
The charges for the text messages from applicants for invitation to the studio and homeplay participation nationwide will constitute a source of unencumbered income to Globacom. Also, this will inevitably result in increased number of subscribers to Globacom.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
For any organization, sponsoring an educative television programme is a very loud way of giving back to the society. Glo 9ja Thinks will achieve much more for Globacom as regards the fulfilment of her corporate social responsibility.
PUBLIC GOODWILL
The society will favour anything that will help restore the reading culture in Nigeria. If Globacom starts the good work of making mathematics more interesting than many presently consider it to be, the public goodwill she stands to enjoy can be imagined.
REGISTRATION OF PHONE LINES
Since only applications and participation via duly registered Globacom phone lines will be considered, this programme will serve to greatly reduce the number of unregistered Globacom phone lines. Moreover, this will give subscribers a reason to give accurate data of themselves during phone line registration. How the government of Nigeria desires this!
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
As a profit-seeking organization, Globacom stands to enjoy a sizeable profit by adopting this idea. The cost-benefit analysis presented herein for a single week and based on participation through 5,000,000 phone lines proves this. In this analysis, however, the capital cost which includes expenses in setting up a studio and procuring dedicated assets and other initial costs such as the expenses incurable when selecting a host have not been included.
INCOME
· Applications (N50 X 5,000,000 phone lines) = N250,000,000
· Homeplay (N100 X 5,000,000 phone lines) = N500,000,000
TOTAL INCOME N750,000,000
EXPENSES
· Host: Remuneration and Wardrobe = N1,000,000
· Prize Winners (N2M+N1M+N0.5M) = N3,500,000
· Consolation Prizes (N100,000 X 7) = N700,000
· Homeplay Winners (N50,000 X 50) = N2,500,000
· Cash Gifts to Studio Audience (N100,000 X 30) =N3,000,000
· Studio Maintenance Cost = N2,000,000
· Invitees: Transportation, lodging & logistics = N5,000,000
· Newspaper Expenses =N20,000,000
· Cost of Broadcast Air Time =N10,000,000
TOTAL EXPENSE N47,700,000
PROFIT (N750,000,000-N47,700,000) = N702,300,000
It is apparent that the income realizable has been underestimated while the expenses have been exaggerated. The excess from the exaggerated expenses serves to make up for any cost that might not have been considered.
CONCLUSION
There is no denying the fact that the success of this proposed television programme will depend, to a large extent, on the nature and extent of the publicity it gets prior to its kick-off and afterwards and more importantly, the host during the programme. A young man who is unarguably good-looking, exudes a measure of seriousness yet displays a good sense of humour and appears amiable, has a fair understanding of mathematics, possesses excellent communication skills and has proved to be articulate will suffice. Also, he must be one who has not been the topic for public opinion in the past, favourable or unfavourable. This clearly rules out comedians, actors, known musicians and any who has ever been a part of a reality television show.
In line with the perceived corporate image that Globacom seeks to project, the name Glo 9ja Thinks has been chosen. The proposed mode of participation will result in income due to increased number of subscribers for Globacom. Also, the entire nature of this proposed television programme will attract public interest and ultimately cause Glo to become a household name. However, some modifications where necessary will not be out of place.
Suffice it to say that the success of 9ja Thinks and the benefits thereof are palpable.
SAMPLE PROBLEMS
In order forestall a detracting from the expected goal of this proposed television programme, some sample problems are hereby given. These will help anyone considering this proposal not to lose sight of what was primarily borne at heart while conceiving this idea, edutainment.
· If a copier makes 3 copies every 4 seconds, then continues at this rate, how many minutes will it take to make 9,000 copies?
· The ages of a brother and a sister are 11 and 8 years. In how many years’ time will the product of their ages be 378?
· A number is subtracted from 20 and from 17. The product of the numbers so obtained is 180. Find the number that was subtracted from 20 and from 17.
· A room is 4.6 metres long, 3.7 metres wide and 3.2 metres high. Calculate the diagonal of the longer wall.
· In three years, Joan will be three times as old as her daughter. Six years ago, her age was her daughter’s age squared. How old is Joan?
· An American businessman visiting London changed US$500 into English pounds when the rate of exchange was $1.75 to the pound. He spent £257 and changed the rest back into dollars when the rate of exchange was $1.55 to the pound. At each transaction the bank charged a commission of 2%. How many dollars will the man have at the end of these transactions?
· The salary scale for a senior officer starts at =N=57,000 per annum. A rise of =N=2,800 is given at the end of each year. Find the total amount of money that the officer will earn in 14 years.
· Two boards are being cut for a construction project. If the total length of the boards is 100 inches and the shorter board is 5 inches less than half the length of the longer board, what is the length of the shorter board?