Over the weekend in Abeokuta, chants, bata drums, and the spirited vitality of Egba individuals stuffed the air as indigenes gathered to honour Lisabi Agbongbo Akala on the 2025 Lisabi Pageant.
Also referred to as Ègbáligánsà, the pageant is held yearly to honour the legendary Lisabi, a person who birthed a resistance and collective outrage among the many Egba individuals in opposition to their frequent tormentor within the days of outdated. Lisabi was a superb navy organiser and farmer.
Callused from years of tilling the soil, he united a number of Yoruba teams in revolt in opposition to the Oyo Empire between 1775 and 1780. After main his individuals to victory, legend has it that Lisabi intentionally entered the forest that now bears his identify and vanished. Others consider he took his personal life. However early historians argue that he could have survived and migrated elsewhere.
No matter how he died, yearly, the pageant honouring him attracts little children of Egba descent from throughout the globe to rejoice his legacy. In true Ogun State style — very like what we see at Ojude Oba Pageant — it was a vibrant spectacle of custom and apparel.
Among the many notable company have been dignitaries like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Dapo Abiodun, star actor Richard Mofe-Damijo, and Tunde Delu. The boys graced the occasion in fantastically adorned agbada with intricate embroidery and matching caps, whereas the ladies wearing fashionable and brightly colored tailor-made iro and buba ensembles. The pageant’s essence is to foster unity and reinforce a robust sense of togetherness among the many Egba individuals.
Images from Lisabi Pageant by Olumide Ijimakinwa (@oviesoft)
