Globacom and Ofala: Onitsha festival sponsorship enters 16th year
- Globacom's sponsorship of the Ofala festival in Onitsha has run since 2011 and was renewed for three more years in 2025.
- The partnership has grown to include youth programmes, an arts exhibition, a music concert and a mobile app launched in 2025.
- Organisers want the festival to draw more visitors and business from across Nigeria, West Africa and beyond.
Globacom's sponsorship of the Ofala festival in Onitsha has now run for 16 years, after the company renewed its three-year agreement with the Onitsha Traditional Council in 2025.
The telecommunications firm first signed a three-year deal with the council in 2011, and renewed it in 2014 and 2017 before the latest renewal. The festival is held under Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ugochukwu Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha.
Ofala is built around two ceremonies, Iru Ofala and Azu Ofala, and centres on the throne of Ezechima, which the accounts describe as more than five centuries old. The celebrations bring together royalty, the Ndichie, age grades and cultural associations in procession and homage to the Obi.
From ceremony to commerce
Over the years the sponsorship has widened what the festival offers. The 2017 edition added youth programmes, an international arts exhibition, a music concert, the Miss Ofala contest and a royal banquet.
In 2018, the Oraeze International Arts Exhibition brought together more than 100 artists from Nigeria and the diaspora, according to the accounts.
For ordinary Nigerians in Onitsha and beyond, the interest is less in the pageantry than in what it can bring: visitors who spend on hotels, food and transport, and buyers for locally made crafts. Since 2019, organisers have pushed for greater national, West African and international recognition, with the stated aim of bringing the world to Onitsha.
Globacom's network reach is presented as the bridge to those outside audiences. In 2025 the festival also launched a mobile app offering real-time updates and multimedia content.
The accounts caution that any real economic gain will depend on further investment, effective delivery and the participation of the wider community, not on visibility alone.
What happens next
The 2025 renewal is for three years, extending a partnership the accounts date to 2011. Whether the festival turns crowds into lasting income for traders, hoteliers and artisans in Onitsha is the test organisers have set themselves.
The two accounts of this story are near-identical pieces by Louis Ibe, a public relations and reputation management specialist, carried by ThisDay and Tribune.
