Oba Eshugbayi is a play about a little highlighted history of Lagos: the struggle over water tax imposed by the British on the people of Lagos and the expulsion of Oba Esugbayi, who stood against the tax, to Abeokuta.
Executively produced by Joseph Edgar of the Duke of Shomolu Productions, it starred Yemi Shodimu as Oba Eshugbayi. Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Thin Tall Tony, played Lord Lugard and choreographed the show.
The Christmas showing of the play – December 23 to 25 – at the Muson Centre was partly sponsored by FirstBank. The play was witnessed on the December 23 by the state governor, Akinwumi Ambode.
As part of its #FirstbankIssaVybe and #DecemberIssaVybe tickets giveaway, some lucky followers of the bank on social media won VIP tickets to see the play. One of the winners, Tunde Omojoula, who saw the play on Christmas Eve, could not thank Firstbank enough for the opportunity. “It felt awesome, winning the ticket,” he said. “I think (#FirstBankIssaVybe) is a good initiative. I follow all FirstBank’s events on social media and will be there for the Youth Empowerment Forum.”
The play focused on how much revered proponent of Nigeria’s Independence threw his weight behind Oba Eshugbayi against the British. Other prominent characters featured were Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti and Margret Ekpo.
According to Mr. Edgar, “We wanted to highlight not just the events that happened at that time in Lagos but all around the country so if you noticed, the timeline was contrived. You see Margret Ekpo was on stage, Funmilayo Ransom-Kuti. The story, we came up with, touched on women’s rights, resistance to arbitrary rule and brought to light the patriotic intent of our forebears.”
The FirstBank #DecemberIssaVybe and #FirstBankIssaVybe giveaway fest is driven to reward old, new and potential customers with tickets to premium events around Lagos. Follow FirstBank on its respective social media pages, thus on Facebook: First Bank Nigeria Limited, Twitter: @firstbankngr and Instagram: firstbanknigeria and get lucky to win tickets for A-list events happening in 2019. Among the A-list events partnered for a vybe with FirstBank include Burna Boy Live, Davido Live and many more including the stage play, Oba Eshugbayi and Moremi.
