Globacom marked 21 years as principal sponsor of one of Nigeria’s greatest cultural festivals rewarding community servants, traders, and artisans with cars, tricycles, and cash. OgasTv covers the full story, including what it means for cultural tourism across Nigeria.
A Festival Rooted in Centuries — And Why 2026 Was Different
Ojude Oba — which translates roughly as “the King’s Forecourt” — is one of Nigeria’s oldest and most visually spectacular cultural festivals. Held in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, it takes place every year on the third day after Eid al-Kabir, when the Ijebu people pay traditional homage to their king. Regberegbe age-grade groups — some of which are over a century old — parade in coordinated luxury attire. The Balogun horse-riding families display the martial traditions of Ijebu warriors. Nearly 100 groups competed this year alone.
The 2026 edition carried a particular emotional weight. It was the first Ojude Oba since the passing of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, in July 2025 — after a remarkable 65-year reign that transformed Ojude Oba from a local tradition into an internationally recognised cultural institution. A regent council, headed by Olorogun Sunny Kuku, received tributes in his stead. Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., Chairman of Globacom, described the late Oba as one “whose wisdom and steadfast devotion to cultural preservation elevated Ijebuland to global prominence.”
The festival was themed: “Ojude Oba 2026: Celebrating the Legacy of Oba Sikiru Adetona.”
Against this backdrop, Globacom’s 21 years of unbroken sponsorship stands as one of Nigeria’s most sustained corporate commitments to cultural heritage. The company awarded competitive cash prizes to top Regberegbe groups and Eleshin horse-riding families, distributed brand new cars and tricycles to community members through its promotional programmes, and gave rice to all participating Regberegbes — ensuring no group left empty-handed.
“This festival is not a fading relic of history, but a living cultural force aimed at binding the people and fostering peace, progress and prosperity.”
— DR. MIKE ADENUGA JR., CHAIRMAN, GLOBACOM (MAY 29, 2026)
Governor Dapo Abiodun reinforced that message with a direct economic argument: hotels in Ijebu-Ode were fully occupied, businesses were flourishing, artisans were engaged, and youths were productively empowered on festival day. The governor has positioned Ojude Oba as a flagship of Ogun State’s tourism development agenda — an ambition backed by real economic data showing the festival’s multiplier effect on the local economy.
Who Globacom Rewarded — and Their Stories
Beyond the competitive prizes, Globacom used the festival to reward ordinary community members — traders, carpenters, plank sellers — with life-changing gifts. OgasTv documents every winner.
Cash Prize Winners — Regberegbe & Eleshin Categories
Male Regberegbe
| PLACE | GROUP | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Egbe Bobakeye Okunrin Akile Ijebu | ₦750,000 |
| 2nd | Egbe Bobagunte Okunrin Akile Ijebu | ₦600,000 |
| 3rd | Egbe Bobamayegun Okunrin Akile Ijebu | ₦500,000 |
Female Regberegbe
| PLACE | GROUP | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Egbe Arobayo Obinrin Precious | ₦750,000 |
| 2nd | Egbe Jagunmolu Obinrin Stainless | ₦600,000 |
| 3rd | Egbe Bobamayegun Obinrin Aremo | ₦500,000 |
Eleshin — Horse Riding Families
| PLACE | FAMILY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Balogun Kuku Family | ₦750,000 |
| 2nd | Balogun Oreagba Family | ₦600,000 |
| 3rd | Balogun Shoye Family | ₦500,000 |
Culture Is Not Just Heritage — It Is an Economic Engine
TOURISM
On festival day, every hotel in Ijebu-Ode was fully occupied. Visitors travelled from across Nigeria and the diaspora. A single cultural day generates what months of conventional marketing cannot.
SMALL BUSINESS
Traders, tailors, food vendors, photographers, and transport operators all earned significantly more on Ojude Oba day. The festival is a grassroots economic stimulus with no government budget required.
YOUTH
Age-grade groups start accepting members young. Ojude Oba gives youth a structured framework of community identity, responsibility, and competition — with real prizes for excellence.
DIASPORA
Ijebu sons and daughters abroad return for Ojude Oba — bringing foreign exchange, investment interest, and reconnection with heritage. Cultural events are Nigeria’s most natural diaspora engagement tools.
INSTITUTIONS
The festival demonstrates that traditional institutions still command authority, respect, and community organisation. Strong traditional institutions complement — not compete with — democratic governance.
CORPORATE NIGERIA
Globacom’s 21-year commitment proves that cultural sponsorship is sustainable business strategy — building brand loyalty, community goodwill, and national identity in ways advertising alone cannot.
What Nigeria Can Learn From Ijebu-Ode
The story of Opeoluwa Osisanwo is the most important detail in this year’s Ojude Oba. A 52-year-old community servant who spent years as Secretary of the Festival Planning Committee — not for money, not for recognition, but because he loved his community — was nominated by his own people, given a car, and told: “We were watching.” That is what civic culture looks like when it works.
Nigeria has 774 local governments and thousands of cultural festivals — most of them underfunded, unsponsored, and invisible beyond their own communities. Ojude Oba shows what is possible when a community takes its culture seriously, an institution (the Awujale’s palace) provides structure, and a corporate partner makes a long-term commitment rather than a one-off sponsorship deal.
The calls for UNESCO recognition of Ojude Oba are well-founded. A festival that unites Muslims, Christians, and traditional worshippers — in which horse-riding warriors and modern age-grade groups dressed in luxury fabrics parade together — is not just a cultural product. It is a model of pluralism, community cohesion, and peaceful coexistence that Nigeria desperately needs to export as a narrative of itself to the world.
Governor Abiodun’s framing is correct: culture is not only identity — it is economic opportunity. Every state government in Nigeria should have an Ojude Oba equivalent that it actively develops, funds, and promotes. Most do not. That is a governance failure dressed up as a budgetary constraint.
What This Model Can Teach Every Nigerian Community
- GOVERNMENTEvery state government should identify, document, and actively fund at least one flagship cultural festival for international tourism promotion. Ogun State has Ojude Oba. What does your state have — and what budget is it getting?
- CORPORATENigerian companies should follow Globacom’s 21-year model of consistent, long-term cultural investment rather than one-off celebrity-event sponsorship. Brand loyalty built through cultural heritage is deeper and more durable.
- COMMUNITIESEvery LGA in Nigeria has age-grade groups, cultural associations, and traditional festivals. Organise them, register them, and approach the LGA and local businesses for structured sponsorship — not just one-time donations.
- TOURISMThe Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) should create a National Cultural Calendar — listing every major festival by state, date, and accessibility — to enable domestic and diaspora tourism planning at scale.
- YOUTHYoung Nigerians should document their communities’ cultural festivals through video, photography, and written storytelling — and submit them to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage nomination processes. Nigeria’s culture deserves global protection.
- MEDIANigerian media — including OgasTv — must cover cultural festivals not as entertainment fillers but as economic and civic stories. Who won? Who was rewarded? What was the economic impact? How many hotels were full? These are governance questions dressed in agbada.
How You Can Participate in Nigeria’s Cultural Economy
What cultural festival from your community deserves the same national recognition and corporate support that Ojude Oba receives — and what would it take to get it there?
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What OgasTv Verified
- Vanguard News — “Glo Showers Cash on Age Grades, Horse Riders at Ojude Oba 2026” (May 2026)
- TheCable — “Glo Rewards Age Grades, Horse Riders at Ojude Oba 2026” (May 2026)
- Pulse Nigeria — “Ojude Oba 2026: Glo Rewards Excellence in Culture, Tradition” (May 2026)
- The Punch — “Ojude Oba 2026: Tradition, Tourism, and the Changing Face of Yoruba Heritage” (June 2026)
- Independent Newspaper Nigeria — “Globacom Marks 21 Years of Ojude Oba Festival Sponsorship” (May 2026)
- Linda Ikeji’s Blog — “2026 Ojude Oba: Glo’s Spectacle of Honours and Rewards” (May 2026)
- Globacom Nigeria — Official Press Release on Ojude Oba 2026 Prizes (June 2026)
