Ugandan in finals of UK’s super dads’ competition
Mar 13, 2008
CALL it sheer lady luck for this young man to leave his home country and in a blink of an eye, find a job, get married to a beautiful Scottish lady and about the same time, get nationwide recognition for being a good father — just like that.
By Nigel Nassar
CALL it sheer lady luck for this young man to leave his home country and in a blink of an eye, find a job, get married to a beautiful Scottish lady and about the same time, get nationwide recognition for being a good father — just like that.
How often does this happen to the average Ugandan? I mean, 27-year-old Ivan Lyagoba inhaled the same amount of dust amounts as all of us who go downtown.
And he did not go to an international school, so there is not much of an Ivy-league education for him to talk of. In fact, Lyagoba did not complete the electrical engineering diploma course he was pursuing at Kyambogo University in 2001.
When chance came for him to go to the United Kingdom on Trinity Broadcasting Network’s ticket to train in broadcasting, he went for it. Shortly after, he returned home in Jinja district with a certificate in the discipline.
It is from then that he, due to his childhood familiarisation with machines, got a job as one of the engineers who set up Kiira FM in Jinja, while part-timing at Busoga FM as a technician/radio presenter till early 2004.
As luck would have it, Lyagoba got another job in Jinja as a sound technician at Act4Africa, a Christian charity which creates HIV/AIDS awareness to combat the pandemic.
It was here that he met Rachel in 2005, the woman he would marry two years later and have a baby with. The baby would be called Sam Joseph Hamilton Lyagoba.
He would show this baby so much love that Rachel would nominate him to take part in 2008’s UK-based fatherhood competition dubbed Tomy’s Daddy Idol.
As of now, Lyagoba, a resident of Dumfries, Scotland, has successfully made it to the final stage of the competition, which rewards UK’s most amiable father — the ‘Daddy Idol’, who is selected basing on how much time a father spends with his baby, how much he shows it off and how good he looks to affect the baby positively.
In his quest to be the ultimate daddy idol, Lyagoba has beaten a number of Scotland dads in the preliminaries and will go up against eight other fathers from the UK.
But he can only win if he has the most votes cast by people around the world via the Internet.
By visiting www.tomy.co.uk/daddyidol and www.babyexpert.co.uk, and clicking on Ivan Lyagoba, you make this Ugandan the Daddy Idol of UK, catapulting him into the world of fame — and of course riches. The deadline for voting is March 20 and the winner will be announced in June.
If crowned, Lyagoba will win an invaluable prize — starring in the 2008 national print advertising campaign for the Tomy Freestyle range of baby carriers. The campaign was designed last year to suit dads who are active in child upbringing.
The chosen ‘Daddy Idol’ will also feature in Prima Baby Magazine, win a night for two at a top London hotel, £200 (sh660,000) spending money, travel expenses, a baby carrier from Tomy and a hamper full of Tomy baby toys.
It might have been luck (or was it fate?) that the two met.
But Lyagoba’s go-getting nature played a big role since it is the one that made him make a move on Rachel.
A Scottish primary school teacher, Rachel, 34, had come to Uganda on temporary duty with Act4Africa, Lyagoba’s new place of work then.
Interestingly though, Lyagoba made the move just for the sake of trying, after all, “I had nothing to lose for trying,†he says in a telephone interview. “She had come as a delegate. So she was by far my boss,†he adds.
Lyagoba had harboured strong feelings for Rachel. But he feared she could get him sacked. “One day, I took advantage of a light moment at a function we had at our office.
I was taking a video in which I was asking questions for people to answer on camera. I asked her a personal question,†he recalls his romantic move.
“Are you married?†The question went. “No, I am not, why?†Came the answer, followed by a question that seemed to mean she had understood what he was up to.
That rapport was all for Lyagoba. After a few weeks, Rachel went back to Scotland. But he had got her contacts, so they traded emails and calls. Little did they know that Cupid, the Roman god of love, was at work.
When she returned in 2006 for another six months with the charity, the two fell in love — also just like that. On March 31, 2007, they married at Dumfries Baptist Church. Then along came another plus — the birth of Sam, the reason Lyagoba is now a contender for the couple’s baby boy.
“Sam has brought new meaning to my life. When he smiles at me, I feel so happy. I have started seeing the world through his eyes and it makes me appreciate the simple things in life that I normally take for granted.
Much love to him and Rachel, they are my best friends,†Lyagoba says.
He says coming to the final stage makes him feel a winner already. “I am so optimistic. I send love to my Ugandan people and ask them to please vote for me,†Lyagoba says.
Officially a resident, Lyagoba hopes to apply for UK citizenship in 2009. He doubles as a technician and radio presenter at a community radio in Dumfries, presenting a weekend gospel show.
He is also an electrical technician at Kenda Hotel in the same locality.
“To keep up with the standard of living here, you need to work a lot, and go to school too,†Lyagoba says, adding that he has studied a number of short courses to keep up with the requirements of his jobs and also earn a substantial amount of money.
Describing his normal day, Lyagoba says: “It is a typical baby Sam and work, work day.â€
This way, he, together with the wife, put food on the table, and struggle to pay a 25-year mortgage for the house they live in, estimated at £182,000 (sh600m).
Since their marriage, the Lyagobas have cleared some of their mortgage and now owe the housing dealer mortgage payments of up to 18 years.
By UK standards, the Lyagobas are an average not-complaining family. But if he wins the Daddy Idol Competition, the money he will be paid for starring in Tomy’s advertising campaign will clear eight years of their mortgage and prepare them for a happier life since other advertisers will be looking to hire his services.
Lyagoba went to school in Jinja. He attended Spire Primary School, Mother Kevin High School, Kiira College Butiki and St. Peter’s S.S, where he completed his Senior Six.
A second-born of five (two boys, three girls), Lyagoba is a son of Hellen Namubiru, a Jinja-based retired banker and Joseph Lyagoba, an electrician with Casements Uganda Limited.
It is from his father that the young man picked interest in playing about with electronics and other gadgets as a childhood pastime. He recalls spoiling a number of his parents’ television and radio sets while trying to figure out how the people we watch and hear are wired inside.
Little did he know the electrical field would be the one to put food on his table in the future. Little wonder that Lyagoba’s future plan is to come back home and set up a television station.
“It might not be soon. But that is my Ugandan dream,†he says.
CALL it sheer lady luck for this young man to leave his home country and in a blink of an eye, find a job, get married to a beautiful Scottish lady and about the same time, get nationwide recognition for being a good father — just like that.
How often does this happen to the average Ugandan? I mean, 27-year-old Ivan Lyagoba inhaled the same amount of dust amounts as all of us who go downtown.
And he did not go to an international school, so there is not much of an Ivy-league education for him to talk of. In fact, Lyagoba did not complete the electrical engineering diploma course he was pursuing at Kyambogo University in 2001.
When chance came for him to go to the United Kingdom on Trinity Broadcasting Network’s ticket to train in broadcasting, he went for it. Shortly after, he returned home in Jinja district with a certificate in the discipline.
It is from then that he, due to his childhood familiarisation with machines, got a job as one of the engineers who set up Kiira FM in Jinja, while part-timing at Busoga FM as a technician/radio presenter till early 2004.
As luck would have it, Lyagoba got another job in Jinja as a sound technician at Act4Africa, a Christian charity which creates HIV/AIDS awareness to combat the pandemic.
It was here that he met Rachel in 2005, the woman he would marry two years later and have a baby with. The baby would be called Sam Joseph Hamilton Lyagoba.
He would show this baby so much love that Rachel would nominate him to take part in 2008’s UK-based fatherhood competition dubbed Tomy’s Daddy Idol.
As of now, Lyagoba, a resident of Dumfries, Scotland, has successfully made it to the final stage of the competition, which rewards UK’s most amiable father — the ‘Daddy Idol’, who is selected basing on how much time a father spends with his baby, how much he shows it off and how good he looks to affect the baby positively.
In his quest to be the ultimate daddy idol, Lyagoba has beaten a number of Scotland dads in the preliminaries and will go up against eight other fathers from the UK.
But he can only win if he has the most votes cast by people around the world via the Internet.
By visiting www.tomy.co.uk/daddyidol and www.babyexpert.co.uk, and clicking on Ivan Lyagoba, you make this Ugandan the Daddy Idol of UK, catapulting him into the world of fame — and of course riches. The deadline for voting is March 20 and the winner will be announced in June.
If crowned, Lyagoba will win an invaluable prize — starring in the 2008 national print advertising campaign for the Tomy Freestyle range of baby carriers. The campaign was designed last year to suit dads who are active in child upbringing.
The chosen ‘Daddy Idol’ will also feature in Prima Baby Magazine, win a night for two at a top London hotel, £200 (sh660,000) spending money, travel expenses, a baby carrier from Tomy and a hamper full of Tomy baby toys.
It might have been luck (or was it fate?) that the two met.
But Lyagoba’s go-getting nature played a big role since it is the one that made him make a move on Rachel.
A Scottish primary school teacher, Rachel, 34, had come to Uganda on temporary duty with Act4Africa, Lyagoba’s new place of work then.
Interestingly though, Lyagoba made the move just for the sake of trying, after all, “I had nothing to lose for trying,†he says in a telephone interview. “She had come as a delegate. So she was by far my boss,†he adds.
Lyagoba had harboured strong feelings for Rachel. But he feared she could get him sacked. “One day, I took advantage of a light moment at a function we had at our office.
I was taking a video in which I was asking questions for people to answer on camera. I asked her a personal question,†he recalls his romantic move.
“Are you married?†The question went. “No, I am not, why?†Came the answer, followed by a question that seemed to mean she had understood what he was up to.
That rapport was all for Lyagoba. After a few weeks, Rachel went back to Scotland. But he had got her contacts, so they traded emails and calls. Little did they know that Cupid, the Roman god of love, was at work.
When she returned in 2006 for another six months with the charity, the two fell in love — also just like that. On March 31, 2007, they married at Dumfries Baptist Church. Then along came another plus — the birth of Sam, the reason Lyagoba is now a contender for the couple’s baby boy.
“Sam has brought new meaning to my life. When he smiles at me, I feel so happy. I have started seeing the world through his eyes and it makes me appreciate the simple things in life that I normally take for granted.
Much love to him and Rachel, they are my best friends,†Lyagoba says.
He says coming to the final stage makes him feel a winner already. “I am so optimistic. I send love to my Ugandan people and ask them to please vote for me,†Lyagoba says.
Officially a resident, Lyagoba hopes to apply for UK citizenship in 2009. He doubles as a technician and radio presenter at a community radio in Dumfries, presenting a weekend gospel show.
He is also an electrical technician at Kenda Hotel in the same locality.
“To keep up with the standard of living here, you need to work a lot, and go to school too,†Lyagoba says, adding that he has studied a number of short courses to keep up with the requirements of his jobs and also earn a substantial amount of money.
Describing his normal day, Lyagoba says: “It is a typical baby Sam and work, work day.â€
This way, he, together with the wife, put food on the table, and struggle to pay a 25-year mortgage for the house they live in, estimated at £182,000 (sh600m).
Since their marriage, the Lyagobas have cleared some of their mortgage and now owe the housing dealer mortgage payments of up to 18 years.
By UK standards, the Lyagobas are an average not-complaining family. But if he wins the Daddy Idol Competition, the money he will be paid for starring in Tomy’s advertising campaign will clear eight years of their mortgage and prepare them for a happier life since other advertisers will be looking to hire his services.
Lyagoba went to school in Jinja. He attended Spire Primary School, Mother Kevin High School, Kiira College Butiki and St. Peter’s S.S, where he completed his Senior Six.
A second-born of five (two boys, three girls), Lyagoba is a son of Hellen Namubiru, a Jinja-based retired banker and Joseph Lyagoba, an electrician with Casements Uganda Limited.
It is from his father that the young man picked interest in playing about with electronics and other gadgets as a childhood pastime. He recalls spoiling a number of his parents’ television and radio sets while trying to figure out how the people we watch and hear are wired inside.
Little did he know the electrical field would be the one to put food on his table in the future. Little wonder that Lyagoba’s future plan is to come back home and set up a television station.
“It might not be soon. But that is my Ugandan dream,†he says.