A Nigerian telecom company has caught the attention of the country with a promotion that has a general aviation theme. MTN will announce the winner of a new Cessna 182T on Tuesday in its Ultimate Wonder contest for customers who sign contracts with the cellphone carrier. However, it's not likely the prize will ever land on Nigerian soil, according to commentators. Although it has at least a couple of flight schools, recreational aviation is all but unheard of in Nigeria and so is avgas. Cessna announced in July that the turbo version of the Skylane will be replaced with the diesel-powered JT-A, but it won't be available until next year. The company says the winner can take $400,000 in cash instead of the plane.
The prize is so unusual that consumer watchdogs initially warned customers that it was a scam. But the Nigerian government vouched for the company in September and the contest has earned a lot of attention. For unexplained reasons, the draw date was pushed from sometime in October to Nov. 13.
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