THOSE who want to succeed in any area in life must be willing to take risks. Whether great or small, at one point or the other, we would all be faced with the challenge of making life changing decisions based on uncertain factors. It is often said that great risk takers are great achievers.For Jacob Zibe, the risk he took to take part in the Maltina Dance All regional auditions was one he would live not to regret. Jacob, the 22-year-old student of Fine Arts at the Niger Delta University, took a big risk when he travelled from Bayelsa to Port-Harcourt to take part in the MDA 6 auditions. Since the inception of the MDA, Jacob had taken part in all the auditions without any success.Not deterred by his past failures, he was resolute in his quest to make it to the Maltina Academy after five successive failures. 'I was in class when a friend called to inform me that the audition would take place the next day in Port-Harcourt if I'm interested. I said I was and he asked how I would make it there, I told him no problem that I would take a risk and I did. I don't regret taking the risk at all', Jacob said.Indeed Jacob would certainly not regret taking the risk. His efforts paid off as he finally made it to the Maltina academy with members of his family after successfully passing through all the screening. They stand a chance to win the whopping N6 million grand prize and a brand new car. Relieving his experience in the academy, Jacob points out that after trying for so long and not giving up, it was certainly a good feeling to be in the academy. 'To be honest with you, I am really having fun meeting people and doing the exercises. Even though it's a competition, we have had good interactions with other families and we do thingstogether with them and learn from each other. We are really having fun here', he said.Jacob, whose father is an Anglican priest and mother a businesswoman, describes his family as a united and loving one. The gifted dancer came to the academy in company of his mother and three other siblings. On what the family would do with the money if they eventually emerge winners, Jacob stated that they would first pay their tithes, attend to family needs and push his dancing career to another level. Jacob, who is also a gifted artiste stressed that if in the future, he doesn't dance again, he would focus his attention on arts and crafts.As was the norm last year, Nigerian Breweries Plc, the custodian of the Maltina brand, announced an upward review of the prize money. The winning family will now take home N6 million, in addition to a brand new car, while the first and second runners up would take home N1 million and N500, 000 respectively. After series of screening, the winners were whittled down to fifteen and were invited to an intense and grueling boot camp. At the end of the day, the 10 lucky families that eventually made it to the famous Maltina Dance Academy were, The Boyle family, Green Family, Amilo family, Efiokwu family, Eghove family, Nwogwugwu family, Okasia family, Onyebuagu family, Zibe family and the Ozurumba family. These 10 families, would slug it out for the grand prize as well as the fame which comes with being Nigeria's number one dancing family. The MDA concept brings families together in a captive environment where they strive to outdo each other through the mastery of various types of local and international dance styles. Furthermore, this platform, apart from enabling families from various ethnicities adopt the dance styles of others, acts as a means to bond these families thereby building stronger family values and affinity. The MDA was thus conceptualised with the passion to entertain, bond and encourage a restoration of values to the family.Mrs. Ngozi Nkwoji, Senior Brand Manager Maltina, said the Maltina story has been the story of fun, sharing happiness and encouraging an atmosphere for the Nigerian family to bond with each other and with other families. She stated that 'MDA is all about bringing the entire family together as a functioning unit so that they can bond effectively throughout their time at the Academy and network as a unit with other families.'The show will bring to the fore, the Nigerian essence and values of sharing, happiness, unity, cooperation, vitality and creativity which have set the show apart from others. The grand finale would be held on September 22, 2012.
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