ONITSHA/Nigeria: Holiday makers in Onitsha, Anambra State, were treated to five days of vibrant culture and entertainment as the 2025 edition of the Golibe Festival took centre stage during the Christmas period.
The festival began on December 26 with the finals of the Ado Football League and unfolded into a colourful street carnival, music night and a crossover concert that wrapped up the celebrations. Thousands of residents and visitors thronged venues across the commercial city to witness the spectacle.
Popular rapper Jeriq headlined the music night, thrilling an excited crowd at the Chuba Ikpeazu Stadium with a high-energy performance that capped the festivities.
Earlier, the Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, received the festival organisers at his Ime-Obi Palace, where he commended them and the youths of Onitsha for what he described as a well-organised and purposeful celebration.
Achebe said Golibe was conceived by both youths and elders as a structured way of transmitting Onitsha culture to younger generations, adding that the festival also provides a platform for Onitsha youths at home, across Nigeria and in the diaspora to reconnect and network.
Describing Golibe as the second major annual festival in Onitsha after Ofala, the monarch said it had grown into a major entertainment, business and lifestyle event with the capacity to curb crime during the festive period by engaging young people productively.
“Golibe is about the future of Onitsha in the hands of our youths. It opens opportunities in poetry, arts, business and leadership, while also creating fun,” Achebe said.
Also speaking, a member of the Golibe Festival Board, Brenda Nwagwu, said the 2025 edition featured music, masquerade displays, street carnival, pageantry, handcrafted art and culinary exhibitions.
She disclosed that all 16 villages of Onitsha participated in various competitions, with Ogbeoza emerging winners of the carnival event, followed by Umuikem and Odoje in second and third places.
According to Nwagwu, no fewer than 10,000 people, including artistes and spectators, took part in this year’s festival, which she described as a powerful blend of entertainment and cultural preservation for the younger generation.
