NEWS ANALYSIS: The misalignment of egbaliganza — by Chris Adetayo
The problem is not the display per se. It is the misalignment between the platform, title and execution.
There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with a cultural platform that aspires for universality. Igbo today, Hausa tomorrow, Tiv next. And so on.
But when that platform takes on an esoteric name, a misalignment occurs when it then proceeds to be exoteric. That is the problem with Egbaliganza.
It’s a fusion of 2 words. Egba, the people and culture. And “Extravaganza”, a lavish, expensive show. Put together, it projects a lavish and spectacular show about the Egba. If the second part is from “Eleganza”, the essence of being stylish and refined, then the show is about the style and sophistication of the Egba people and culture. As a platform, that becomes the expectation – to show case the best styles of the Egba people. Hosted within the larger “Lisabi Day Festival”, it is even more important that it is about the Egba people and their culture and style.
Instead, the 2025 and 2026 editions of Egbaliganza have seen the showcase of fashion and accompanying appurtenances that is anything but Egba. Worse, anything but Yoruba. Despite the criticism of the 2025 event, that the same was repeated in 2026 shows that it is deliberate and intended.
I understand that it is just a small part of Lisabi Day, and is a private project of an individual albeit well connected. Well, if the leaders of Egbaland do not want their Lisabi Day to be overshadowed by such a private project, they need to extricate their platform from this private venture. Egba is not best served when its culture and history is subsumed by a fashion display that bears scant relations to its storied past and present.
The owner of Egbaliganza should also do the needful. Now that he has our attention, and now that it is clear that his desire is to provide a platform for displaying the fashion and culture of different parts and places, he should change the name to something more suitable. He can continue to host it in Egbaland (Abeokuta) and make the famed city a destination for enjoying the best of global culture. But not as Egbaliganza. The misalignment stains the history and culture of the Egba people.
I rise!!
