The UNESCO-listed Argungu Fishing Festival came back to Kebbi State after a six-year break due to safety concerns. It attracted thousands of spectators and competitors from the region, and the 59-kilogram catch stole the show.
The biggest event of the UNESCO-listed Argungu fishing festival, which returned Saturday after being canceled for six years because of safety concerns in Kebbi State, was local fisherman Abubakar Usman’s 59-kilogramme “monster” catch.
Thousands of people, including a few women and children, braved the 39-degree heat to join in. Fishermen from Niger, Chad, and Togo, which are Nigeria’s West African neighbors, also came to compete.
Muhammad Sama, the traditional king of Argungu at the time, put on the inaugural fishing festival in 1934. The event was held to end a hundred years of hatred and distrust between his people and the region’s most powerful monarch at the time, the Sultan of Sokoto, Hassan Dan-Mu’azu.
Over the years, the festival became one of Nigeria’s major cultural events, attracting people from all over the world. But because of security concerns and a lack of funds, it has become less frequent. Organizers noted that the previous full edition took place six years ago.
On Saturday, fisherman floated on brown, spherical gourds in the Matan Fada River as they tried to catch the biggest fish. They only used their hands and nets in the river’s murky waters.
Thousands more people stood around the riverbank, cheering loudly.
BIG PRIZES
Alhaji Samaila Muhammad Mera, the Emir of Argungu, saw hosting the festival this year as a significant win.
Parts of Kebbi State have been attacked by jihadists on and off in the past few years, and experts say the Lakurawa terror group is to blame for the deaths.
“I came back to have a fuller experience,” said 56-year-old Adeniyi Olugbemii, who is from Sokoto State and is going to the event for the second time.
Outside the arena, which lies on the border of the Matan Fada, chanting, drumbeats, and cultural displays made the ambiance even better. They showed off the tradition that has made Argungu a popular tourist destination across the world.
Rukaya Ismaila, 23, said she had come from Kogi state, which is around 850 kilometers (530 miles) away, to the festival for the first time.
She said, “The famous Argungu that we’ve heard about since elementary school.”
She praised the way the rival fishermen helped each other out and said, “It is worth all the excitement.”
Before the fishing competition, there were days of activities, such as a motor rally from Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, a Durbar procession, and other cultural events.
Abubakar Usman’s big catch won him two new saloon automobiles and a cash award of one million naira (approximately $739).
Hundreds of smaller fish ended up in a temporary market set up on the streets next to the arena.
A big political campaign for the re-election of President Tinubu and Kebbi State Governor Mohammed Nasir Idris took away from the event.
People wearing blue t-shirts with their pictures on them drummed and danced, gathering crowds of their own. Inside the main arena, speakers played music praising the visiting president.
Earlier in the day, a false start around noon had made the already nervous contestants jump into the river. They had braved the heat of the sun to wait for President Bola Tinubu to arrive.
The president showed up more than two hours later, and then the contest started again.
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