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November 13, 2025
Unveiling Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota: How Seriki Olanrenwaju Bashorun Larrybash Opens a New Chapter in Ota’s Cultural Landscape
(Published Sunday, 2nd November 2025)
The “Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota” is the game-changing legacy.
The people of the Ota/Awori Kingdom, an ancient Yoruba town and headquarters of the Ado-Odo/Ota local government area of Ogun State, have for too long asked for the transformation of the Egungun festival in Ota in ways that add color, glitz, and glamour without reducing its traditionality.
The Egungun festival in Ota, held once in every six or seven years, is revered and respected as the biggest and longest Egungun festival anywhere in the world, hence the moniker of Ota as the Mecca of Egungun.
The Egungun festival, which commenced just two weeks ago, will last till half of next year, 2026. However, the people, especially cultural enthusiasts, have cried that the Egungun festival cannot blow itself up as a grand marathon cultural exposition only to devolve to a flea market of Sunday shows after the “Agan night,” “Ibodo-Oko,” and “Itadogun.”
To sustain the momentum and make the gamut of the festival the marathon it is called, the people yearned that the intervening days be filled with attention-grabbing events. In truth, a marathon cultural festival must run on all cylinders, immersed with cultural moments that are not only sparkling and bonding but also create buzzing environments for wealth creation.
As the man of the people and a perceptive statesman who operates on ideas, innovation, and community development initiatives, High Chief Olanrenwaju Bashorun LARRYBASH, the Seriki of Otta Kingdom, is addressing this gap with his brainchild, “Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota.”
“Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota” is a novelty cultural event initiated (and to be fully sponsored) by High Chief Seriki Olanrenwaju Bashorun LARRYBASH, the man who will stop at nothing to maximize leverages for the maximum development of his cherished community.
When asked about the idea, he told me, “I have discussed and got the enthusiastic approval of the Olota of Ota, our revered monarch, and the administrators of our Egungun tradition.”
He continued, ‘The Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota is not just about promoting the enduring and unique Ota-Awori traditional poetry and its music accompaniment, Bata, which is used for rich Egungun performances. It is a platform for rewarding talents, showcasing them on the global stage, unveiling up-and-coming ones, and discovering potentials’.
The people of the ancient Ota Awori land have chorused that they will forever be grateful to Alayeluwa Oba Prof. Abdul Kabir Adeyemi Obalanlege, PhD, under whose reign as the Olota of Ota these transformative novelties are happening.
“We will forever celebrate Alayeluwa Olota of Ota Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege hunting and installing Olanrenwaju Bashorun LARRYBASH as the Seriki of Otta Kingdom, appointing him his chief of staff, and presenting him for greater opportunities for the development of Awori land.”
The “Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota 2025” is on Friday night, 7th November 2025, at Okede Square, Ota, Ogun State.
Beyond preserving culture, entertainment, and rewarding talents, the Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota promises to be educative. Ewi, one of Africa’s oral traditions, is a mode to preserve, learn, and celebrate lineage. It helps to unearth cultural roots, family origins, histories, and heroes.
Ale Ewi Odun Egungun Ota is a night not to be missed, with Ewi poetry and Bata music coming together to create an unforgettable experience.
Azeem Salako writes from Ota Awori Kingdom.
