|
The Nigerian Field Society |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Argungu Fishing Festival March 14 - 16th, 2008
From the air, Sokoto looked dry and desolate, but for the groups of huts - at least that’s what they looked like from the air - that dotted the landscape. We quickly discovered that a crew from BBC’s Blue Peter was also aboard the plane to Sokoto to film the fishing festival - the 'world' was going to be in Argungu it seemed! As we landed, I was surprised about how much greener things looked, at least at the airport; even the air wasn’t as dry as I had expected. There were two Kebbi State Government buses at the airport to meet us and we decided that it would be better to head straight to Argungu to be part of the day’s remaining events. As we rode out, the arch at the airport entrance read “Welcome to Sakkwato Kingdom” but a visit to the Sokoto kingdom will have to wait; we were going to visit the Kebbi kingdom.
The journey to Argungu was mostly uneventful except for the litter of plastic bags at the sides of the roads (is there any way to handle the menace of these things?). The otherworldly desolation of the landscape, with both the Neem and the odd Baobab trees interrupting the dusty sea, was simply mesmerizing.
We arrived at the festival village after about an hour on the road and discovered that we just missed an event. There was going to be a Durbar in the evening so we stopped by a hotel nearby for drinks after which we headed to the local market. The highlight for me of the market trip was the drumming and dancing for money as we drove off in the bus.
We got back to the festival village in time for the Durbar. Durbars are usually celebrated at the culmination of the two great Muslim festivals Eid al Fitr and Eid al Kabir. However, around this region, Durbars can also be held as part of any important celebration. This particular Durbar consisted of a procession of contingents from different local governments within the state. Presentations ranged from men with crane head carvings attached to their heads miming the dipping motion of a water bird when feeding, to hunters on the hunt armed with locally made guns letting off shots at imaginary prey. The most impressive part of the durbar was the procession of a group of camel riders who were able to get their camels to take a few steps with their front legs bent at the knee – it was absolutely remarkable!
The group had some kilichi and Maltina and drove on to Birnin Kebbi for the night. Most of us got up early to the muezzin’s call to prayer and after having breakfast, we dashed back to Argungu for the main event.
From under the canopy at the bank of the river, we could see fishermen as far as the eye could see. All at once, they all started running for the water and with more than 30,000 men fishing for prize of N1m, there is only one word to describe the scene – pandemonium! Fishing lasted about 2 hours with men hauling up their ‘monster’ catch from the water up to the podium to be weighed and prizes subsequently awarded. After this main event, we decided to stop briefly at the local museum and the market in Birnin Kebbi. The day ended in a barracks as we settled in for some cold drinks and later on at the hotel where we had dinner.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| ŠThe Nigerian Field Society | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Lagos Branch
