Legend Lights Up Calabar Ekombi, Etighi

Uzo Chikere

The ‘Taste and Tell’ activation pushed by the Legend Extra Stout berthed in Calabar, capital of Cross River State last weekend. If anything, the event which has made rounds in most of the cities in Nigeria, signposted the rich cultural heritage of the Efik people this time around.

The event, which was held at the Municipal Garden, saw the Ekombi Dance Troupe entertain revelers with deft traditional Efik dance steps.

Named after the popular Ekombi dance, a traditional Efik dance routine, the cultural troupe gave a flawless performance of the Ekombi and Etighi traditional dance to the admiration of the merrymakers who urged them on. But the night did not belong to cultural troupe alone. Four years ago, Hip Hop act, Iyanya popularized the Etighi dance step with his hit song, Kukere. Etighi came alive again as the fun seekers were afforded the opportunity to show off their dexterity in a special dance competition. The people that emerged winners of the competition were each awarded free cartons of Legend Extra Stout for their efforts

The event also featured the Legend ‘Taste and Tell’ contest where consumers of Legend were put through a blind taste contest. Participants were required to correctly identify Legend Extra Stout from an array of unmarked stout brands. If anything, the contest showed that the people of Calabar are well acquainted with Legend Extra Stout as all three contestants correctly identified the brand. Interestingly, Calabar would be the only city among those that have hosted the activation where none of the participants would fail the blind taste competition.

The three winners, Gabriel Emmanuel, a Media Consultant, Peter Sunday Akpan, a Civil Engineer and Udeme Efrede, the owner of a furniture company all went home with a brand new LED television, a brand new refrigerator and a power generating set respectively.

In addition to the traditional dancers, the event also featured live music as Lagos-based live band, Platinum Blazers, thrilled the crowd with a medley of old school and contemporary music.

Speaking on the activation, Nsikan Ekanem, Key Account Executive, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Calabar, stated that the brand organized the event to express gratitude to the people of the state for their support. “If we compare Legend’s brand presence in Calabar and indeed, Cross Rivers State today to how it was four years ago, you will see that there has been a vast improvement. Legend as a brand is widely accepted and consumed by the people of this state so we are using this medium to thank our teeming consumers”, she said.