The Egbira natives of Abaji Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday treated locals with various cultural displays during their annual cultural carnival.
Abuja Metro reports that Egbira youth and women converged in front of the palace of the Ona of Abaji, venue of the event adorned in their traditional attires.
They also displayed various cultural dances and masquerades.
While chanting the Egbira traditional songs amid dancing, the celebrants moved in a procession round Abaji metropolis before returning to the venue of the event.
The Egbira cultural carnival was a dance of the brave and display of gallant youth and women as well as display of bows and arrows by the youth as a symbol of the Egbira cultural heritage, especially during hunting.
Apart from the cultural dance and display, there was a beauty pageant for Egbira maidens known as “Soroniya”. Various prizes were won by the constants that emerged as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th.
Speaking at the event, the Kogi State Commissioner for Solid Minerals, Engineer Abubakar Bashir Gegu, who was the chairman of the occasion, said organising such a cultural carnival signified a symbol of unity among the Egbira.
He added that the Egbira cultural carnival also promotes the real identity of every son and daughter across the globe, adding that it is aimed at bringing all Egbira together to show love and speak in one voice.
He commended the Ona of Abaji and chairman of the FCT Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa and members of the organising committee and pledged his continuous support for the growth and substance of the Egbira cultural heritage.
Also speaking, the Gimbiyan Abaji, who was also the planning committee chairman, Hajiya Farida Odangi Suleiman, said the Egbira cultural carnival was organised to show the world that the Egbira nation was one united family irrespective of wherever they reside.
She said the Egbira are large in population and strong at heart, adding that they have the capacity to rule if they are given opportunity.
She said, “As you can see, there are hundreds and thousands of Egbira from Toto LGA of Nasarawa State, Kotonkarfe LGA of Kogi State and the boundary of Edo State, who came to witness the cultural carnival and this shows that we are one family.”
The Ohinoyi of Ogye, Toto LGA of Nasarawa State, HRH Alhaji Muhammed Umar Azaki, said it was an avenue to show how the Egbira love and unite among themselves, and with other ethnic groups.
On his part, the Ona of Abaji, Alhaji Adamu Baba Yunusa, noted that the carnival was an avenue to bring all the Egbira sons and daughters across the globe together to speak in one voice for the development of the Egbira nation.
Our correspondent reports that three different sizes of refrigerators, gas cookers and other prizes were presented to those that emerged 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th positions at the event.
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