Why we are rebranding Egbira Cultural through Ohueje Festival-Seidu

Jonas Ezieke, Abuja

Modernity and socio-economic development have been identified as key factors responsible for the unimpressive awareness of the depth of the cultural values of the Egbira people of Kogi State, the organisers of the Ohueje Ohinoyi Heritage Festival have said.
According to Tijani Seidu, the Chief Executive Officer of Ohueje Ohinoyi Heritage Festival, these realities have impacted the awareness of the Egbira Tao culture to the point of negating the social and economic activities of the people
Seidu disclosed that It was an urgent need to arrest the negative development that the Ohueje Ohinoyi Heritage Festival was initiated in 2017 to begin the process of rebranding Egbira Tao culture.
According to him, the need to rebrand Egbira culture became imperative as the culture of the people had gone beyond singing and dancing.
The 7th edition of the festival that was held on 1st June, 2023 at Egbira day ground Okene was heralded with the participation of various cultural activities
He said: “Egbira need to make a fortune from her rich culture by way of harnessing their endowments to empower the women and youth as well as opening it up for tourism and the international market.
“To achieve this, a deliberate and sustained programme had to be out in place if the objectives of repositioning the culture of Egbira people in the global sphere is to be accomplished”.

Seidu added that the festival has justified its essence since its debut which has resulted in the listing of Ohueje as a national festival while Egbira cuisines have also been listed among Nigeria’s most sought-after in the country.
“The continuous display of Egbira cuisines throughout the three days of the annual festival had caught the attention of the authorities resulting in its listing as a national festival.
“The women are not left out in this improved cultural heritage. They have been educated to appreciate their heritage of weaving and many had gone back to the business and prospering.
“A twist to the art of weaving was introduced in 2022 when Ohueje Ohinoyi threw the competition spanner into weaving. It was tagged the 100bLooms Match. 100 weavers were gathered in the venue of the festival to weave and contest for various awards.
“The recent edition, among the various contents is the revival of the traditional wrestling to spice up the festival. The 7th edition also saw a more sophisticated weaving that can best be described as industrial weaving. No better way to describe the inscribed texts as complex as the calendarium on a hand weaving cloth”.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Dr Maryanne Onwudiewe, during the 2023 festival expressed her delight while describing the festival as one of the cultural festivals that have hearkened to the clarion calls for cultural renaissance, promotion and sustenance of Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
Represented by Orlumanti Orluwene, she said the festival is not only showcasing the cultural potential of the Egbiras but also practically exhibiting other little-known cultural heritages that will tell the globe that Nigeria is a cultural tourist destination that needs to be explored and harnessed.
“The usage of local fabrics for fashion parade will automatically portray the State as a place yarning for the establishment of cultural industry centre which will assist in reducing idle and lazy minds in the enclave and the State at large since women and youths will be lured to be involved in acquiring skills and make them potential traders and thus reduce criminality and other societal vices”, she noted.
Saying that a lot has been achieved during the seven years of the festival, considering the recognition given to the relevance of the festival, Seidu noted, “For instance, the constant attendance and participation of the FCT Arts and Culture and FCT Tourism Department have justified the desires of the conveners to open the community for tourism is realized.
“The determination of the organizers of Ohueje, defying every daunting challenge to ensure the celebration of the culture year in and year out has led to what we have today, as many now visit Egbiraland during the festivals more than ever before”.