AMIDST POMP, EASYBLU OPENS IN LAGOS
On Thursday last week, people from all walks of life converged on 12, Teslim Elias Close, Victoria Island, Lagos for the opening ceremony of a leading airtime distribution company, Easyblu Access Company Limited.
Those at the event included the Chief Sales and Distribution Officer, Airtel Network Limited, Mr. Inusa Bello; Group Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Prepaid Services (APS) Nigeria Limited, Mr. Braam Smit, and his colleague, Mr. Brett Stagman.
Also, representatives of Zenith Bank, Intercontinental Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB), Fidelity Bank, Multi-Links, Starcomms, Zoom Mobile and Inter-Cellular were at the ceremony.
While Mr. Adebowale Fagbemi, IT Manager of the company introduced guests on the occasion, the Assistant Manager, IT, Mr. Ola Tiamiyu, beautifully anchored the programme.
In his opening address, Chairman of Easyblu Access Communication Limited, Alhaji Mutiu Anthony, was optimistic that the establishment of the company would not only accelerate the spread of airtime distribution, it would also expand the market share of Easy and Quiet Group in Nigeria.
'Easyblu is the leading supplier of airtime, using advanced technology,' he asserted.
'The Easyblu is part of the larger Easy and Quiet Group; a group famous domestically as the leading advanced airtime distribution company with high capacity, perfect sales network and service system.
'The new company will greatly improve the leading market position of The Easy and Quiet Group in Nigeria. The development of Easyblu will enormously benefit from Nigeria's rapid economic growth and strong market demand for virtual airtime.
'With more advanced technology and management, more comprehensive product range and better performance, Easyblu will make great contribution to the society. We will provide high quality products and service for our customers. We will provide more job opportunities for the society. We will provide more business opportunities for our suppliers. We will widen platform for our airtime agents. We will provide more development space for our employees.
We promise to supply the market with airtime of all denominations from all networks, anywhere and anytime,' Anthony said.
An assistant general manager with the Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Kunle Adegbite, told Daily Sun: 'This is a very good initiative in the telecommunication industry. The basic idea behind this company is to save people from the stress of buying recharge cards. At the comfort of your own home, you can actually be recharging your phone without buying recharge cards.'
'Very soon, we will see a situation where people will be relieved of the stress they pass through to get prepaid cards before they can make calls. It will be an easy way to get your phone recharged in the comfort of your house. It will make accessibility to those cards easier for people.
'We are willing to support every good initiative. It's being run by expatriates but we believe this is an indigenous company and the basic thing is that we should support our indigenous fellows to be able to grow.'
Mr. Usman Isegen, officer in charge of mass marketing in Multi-Links, described the advent of the Easyblu Access Communication Limited as wonderful, adding that it would redevelop Nigeria's economy.
'It is a new technology. It has to do with virtual pins and Point of Sales (POS), where you have to recharge electronically, either you want to do fund transfer, transfer credit to your phone and all that. With that, the company will bring in new investments and create job opportunities for the teeming populace of Nigerians,' he said.
Isegen further stated that the company would make recharging of mobile phones easy, adding that subscribers would have the opportunity to do electronic transfer of funds through phones.
He noted that the chairman of the company cut his teeth in the telecommunication business from Multi-Links,adding that Anthony had always been a strategic partner with Multi-Links in the past 13 years.
The opening gala of the Easyblu Access Communication Limited, held by the swimming pool side of the company's premises, featured among other things, a tour of the state-of-the-art equipment led by Mr. Anofi Lukman, a brief about the company presented by Mr. Brett Stagman from the APS, the reading of Anthony's profile and closing remarks by Mr. Saheed Jimoh.