By Daniels Ekugo
The 2016 Ojude Oba festival ended on a highly memorable note as leading entertainers lined up by data grandmasters, Globacom, treated Glow subscribers and other fun lovers to a long evening of merrymaking at a music concert.
From the generous dose of humour served by the self acclaimed grand comedian of the federal republic (GCFR) Gbenga Adeyinka to the dance halls tunes by MI and Reekardo Banks, thousands of guest who turned out to savour the evening were left drained from bouts of throaty laughter and non-stop dancing.
Globacom, reputed for being the biggest corporate promoter of entertainment, organized the music concert at the Equity Hotel Music Arena in Ijebu Ode on September 14 to round off the year’s Ojude Oba which had thousands of Ijebu sons and daughters and four serving state governors in attendance.
When the event kicked off, new Fuji sensation, Small Doctor, was the first big artiste to perform. He started with his less known songs, but when he realized that they did not quite catch on with the audience, he switched to his more popular songs such as Mosquito killer, Uzobu, Gbagaun and Ile Ijo. This delighted the crowd who rose to their feet and sang along with him.
Next to perform was Marvin Records singer, Reekardo Banks, and he proved through his scintillating performance that he had joined the league of big Nigerian entertainers. He reeled out his popular tracks including Katapot, Sugar Boy, Chop Am, Na Ur Boy and Oluwa Ni which is rated as one of the biggest Nigerian songs in the last three months. He got the excited youth pulsating with passion as they danced and sang along with their idol, while several of them wielded their android phones to record the performance.
Rap sensation, MI, took the stage after Reekardo and raised the fun evening a notch higher. Even though he did not have many new songs to perform, the crowd nonetheless enjoyed his all time hit songs such as African Rapper Number 1, Bullion Van, Oshe, N1 and Chairman. The arena simply erupted in joy when he pulled a beautiful lady up the stage to sing to her.
Globacom also organized a beauty pageant, dancing and singing competitions as side attractions of the evening which drew thousands of young people and fun-loving elderly subscribers. The most beautiful lady of the pageantry was to be crowned Miss Ojude Oba. At the end of the keenly-contested competition, 20-year-old Miss Adejoke Balogun, a 400-level student of English and Literary Studies from the Tai Solarin University of Education, won the coveted crown and a cash prize of N150, 000, while 22-year-old Omolade Osetekun, a graduate of Industrial and Labour relations, and 22-year-old Motunrayo Durojaye, a graduate of Home and Hotel Management, also from the university, came second and third respectively.
Speaking after she was crowned Miss Ojude Oba, Balogun expressed gratitude to Globacom for showcasing the youth of Ijebuland through the competition, adding that winning the crown had made her self confidence to soar. “It was like receiving a major vaccination against fear of failure and rejection. It feels good to be acknowledged as a beautiful young woman”, she said, adding, “I intend to be a role model to younger girls by making them know that it is possible to combine beauty with brains.”
Similarly, Osetekun and Durojaye commended Globacom for its first class products and services and for supporting Nigerian youth and empowering them to achieve a brighter future.
Commercial Coordinator, Globacom, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe, who represented the Chairman of the company, Dr. Mike Adenuga, Jr., at the Ojude Oba festival said that the company’s continued sponsorship of Ojude Oba was as a result of its belief in the culture and traditions of the Ijebu people as tools of achieving unity.
Globacom which has sponsored the post-Eid-el-Kabir festival for ten consecutive years said the sponsorship was to celebrate the unique culture of the Ijebu people as well as to foster the cause of tourism in the country as espoused by government.