The winner of Nigerian Idol 3, Moses Obi-Adigwe, has opened up that he was never given his prize money immediately.
As the winner of the competition, which was sponsored by a telecommunications firm, he was supposed to take home a brand SUV car, N7.5 million cheque and a recording contract worth N7.5 million.
While speaking with Sunday Scoop, Moses said, “There was so much I didn’t know at the time and there was no one to tell me about those things. I had to learn myself on the road. Nothing was also what it looked like; the promises that were made by the organisers were not necessarily fulfilled. There were lots of dramas, issues surrounding the whole Idol thing. These are things I’ll rather not get into because I am over it. Maybe sometime in my life, I will write a book and talk about it. But at this point, it is not something I want to dwell on as it makes no sense holding on to negativity. I was given my car, but I collected my money after a really long time. It was spread over a couple of years. Though it was part of the agreement that it would be spread, it went beyond the duration of time we agreed upon. The public didn’t know all this. No doubt, Idol gave me an exposure but it didn’t come with the blessings I thought it would come with.”
He also stated, “Mainstream music has never been my thing; I think that was part of my issues at the beginning too. My style is more of Afrocentric, which is a bit laid back. I feel the industry is in a better place now than it was before. There is more appreciation for good music; people are now paying attention to the content, lyrics.”