BY YINKA KAREEM
With the 39th Lisabi Festival concluded, focus shifts to one of its most captivating highlights: the Egbaliganza. The term “liganza” in Egbaliganza is derived from eleganza, itself from the Latin elegantia, meaning “choice” or “refinement.” (Copilot) The graceful and stylish outfits displayed during the festival embodied this sense of “liganza,” echoing the sentiment expressed by the Lai Labode Heritage Foundation that;
Ẹ̀gbáliganza began as a cultural call to memory, a bold move to reposition Ẹ̀gbá heritage at the forefront of contemporary expression. What started as a vision to showcase the elegance of Egba fashion has evolved into a full-scale cultural movement with global relevance, with an unfolding narrative that celebrates the people, places, practices, and pride of the Egba identity.
The Paradox of Egbaliganza
However, what makes Egbaliganza so compelling is also what makes it troubling. In its bid to preserve and promote Egba identity through fashion, it falls into the “paradox of preservation” — the attempt to safeguard heritage while simultaneously eroding it. Egbaliganza reimagines Egba tradition in ways that sometimes distort its essence and also turns cultural pride into cultural loss. This contradiction was on full display at the recently concluded Lisabi Festival, and it sparked criticism.
The reactions are hardly surprising, given the Egba people’s deep-rooted fashion consciousness and their willingness to voice opinions on matters of style. A notable example dates back to 1925, when Alake Sir Ladapo Ademola II, alongside the Alaafin of Oyo, the Owa of Ilesa, and the Ooni of Ife, joined in welcoming the Prince of Wales during his official visit to Ibadan. On that occasion, the Egba community in Ibadan composed and sang a song—crafted by Lasisi Eleko of Ikereku—praising the Alake’s attire as the finest among the four monarchs. Ogunwolu, in one of his works, records the lyrics as follows:/Alake Alake gba fosi (first) lowo Alafin Oyo/ Ewu Ileke, Ewu Ileke ti Oba wa wo yii o ru won lojuu./ Ade ti o de, Ade Golu ni Oba wa dee loo./
Yet, much of the feedback surrounding the fashion showcase at the 39th Lisabi Festival—Egbaliganza—was unfavorable. Some responses took the form of satire, while others descended into outright insults. For instance, Oladoyin Odebowale, commenting on a particular outfit, remarked: “This is a classic case of Were dun wo ni oja. Ko se bi ni Omo. Just take a look at this clown pretending to showcase an Egba attire. Awon Asiwere!” His reaction abandoned all sense of decorum, though such matters could have been approached with thoughtful critique rather than dismissive abuse.
Fashion as Cultural Heritage
To critically examine how Egbaliganza may undermine Egba fashion and cultural heritage, it is first necessary to understand the relationship between fashion and heritage itself. According to Wikipedia, fashion encompasses the creation of ‘…clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into outfits that depict distinctive ways of dressing (styles and trends) as signifiers of social status, self-expression, and group belonging.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion) Meanwhile, Lumen explains tt “Cultural heritage implies shared bond, our belonging, to a community. It represents our history, and our identity, our bond to the past, to our present, and the future.”
Fashion and cultural heritage are inseparable. As Anita Dongre rightly observes, “One of the main cultural expression is fashion. Whether it be headwraps , turbans, or draped cloths – cultural heritage is fashion” For the Egba, clothing is not merely aesthetic; it is a living archive of identity, history, and continuity across generations. However, it must be stressed that the fashion choices of individuals or subgroups cannot be equated with the collective heritage of an entire ethnic community. Egba fashion is rooted in centuries of cultural practice, symbolism, and meaning. It is not simply about novelty or spectacle, but about preserving a shared identity that connects the past to the present and projects into the future.
In this light, the avant-garde styles paraded under Egbaliganza represent a departure from Egba tradition rather than its authentic expression. By prioritizing flamboyance and experimentation over cultural continuity, Egbaliganza risks distorting Egba fashion into a performance detached from its heritage. To call it Egba fashion or cultural heritage is misleading, as it neither reflects the community’s historical identity nor sustains the cultural bond that true heritage demands.
The Three Historical Phases of Egba Fashion
At this stage, it is essential to examine the three historical phases of Egba fashion, as they reveal how Egbaliganza undermines Egba cultural heritage. These phases are: the Igbo Egba period, the Abeokuta era when Egbaland was an independent nation, and the post-1914 era to the present, when Egbaland became part of Nigeria. In the first era, Egba fashion was shaped by Islamic and Arab influences, similar to other Yoruba communities. The second era reflected the impact of Christianity and European dress culture. The third era, extending into modern times, has been heavily influenced by globalization, which, as Siqi Wu argues, promotes cultural homogenization and weakens distinct traditions.(https://ojs.bbwpublisher.com/index.php/ssr/article/view/13813)
Against this historical backdrop, Egbaliganza does not continue the authentic trajectory of Egba fashion. Instead, it distorts it by prioritizing avant-garde spectacle over cultural continuity, thereby accelerating the erosion of Egba identity and heritage.
Ogunbona Agboketoyinbo, the First Egba Fashion Iconoclast
The iconoclastic fashion promoted today by the Lai Labode Heritage Foundation in Egbaland is not entirely new. Historically, the Balogun of Ikija, Ogunbona Agboketoyinbo, is remembered as the first fashion iconoclast in both Egbaland and Yorubaland. Historical accounts reveal that, due to his admiration for European culture, he wore a European hat with his traditional attire during the Henry Townsend era—a time when most Yoruba people had not yet encountered European fashion.Ogunbona’s style was avant-garde for its period, but it was tolerated because it was seen as a personal experiment rather than a wholesale redefinition of Egba fashion. Importantly, Europeans themselves did not label his dressing as “Egba fashion,” so it did not threaten the community’s cultural identity.
By contrast, Egbaliganza represents a more disruptive form of iconoclasm. Unlike Ogunbona’s isolated innovation, Egbaliganza promotes avant-garde styles as though they embody Egba fashion itself. This conflation risks erasing the historical continuity of Egba dress culture. Moreover, by embracing globalized aesthetics, Egbaliganza contributes to cultural homogenization, where local traditions are overshadowed or absorbed by dominant Western trends. In this way, it undermines Egba cultural heritage rather than enriching it.
Yinka Kareem, a cultural curator, who was formerly the Head of the Performing Arts Department of the Ogun State Council for Arts and Culture, writes from Abeokuta.
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