Netizens lament over poor planning of Taraba fishing festival, ask Kefas to probe committee
By Chuwang Dungs
The poor planning and execution of the just concluded Nwonyo International Fishing and Cultural Festival held in Ibbi local government area of Taraba State, have sparked calls for governor Agbu Kefas to probe the members of the organising committee.
Fondly referred to as Taraba biggest and oldest annual cultural event, it was not out of place to have high expectations from the State’s biggest event; especially after a fourteen-year wait.
While a school of thought believes Kefas deserve to be praised for at least bringing the festival back, others feel they organising committee members chaired by the state deputy governor Aminu Alkali deserve knocks for organising what they term “a glorified local festival.”
Immediately after the end of the two days event on Saturday 20th April, irate individuals took to social media to lambast the committee, alleging that funds meant for the festival were not properly utilised and the prizes given to the winners were below expectation.
Taraba State renowned broadcast Journalist Jonathan Tikon, who was in Ibbi, to cover the event, expressed disappointment with the prizes presented to first, second and third winners of the show saying it was a disgrace to the state.
He holds that for an event of this magnitude, there ought to have been better gifts for the winners.
“These prizes given or presented to the first, second and third winners of biggest fishes caught at the just concluded Nwonyo Fishing Festival are not called for and are disgraceful to an event of such magnitude.
“The car was announced by the MCs as a brand new car. Besides that, the difference amongst the prizes is too big.
“The worst is that it was the father of the state T.Y Danjuma that did the presentation of the prizes.
“The organizers of the event just chose to disgrace our General, Governor and the entire state.” Tikon said on his Facebook post.
Making comparison, with a newspaper shot, Mr Tikon said in 2020 Abubakar Yau got two cars and two Hajj seats for catching the biggest fish weighing 78 kilograms at the Argungu fishing festival in Kebbi state, but unfortunately the winner of the Nwonyo fishing festival, Hudu Abubakar got a refurbished and branded Honda Hennessy after catching a 170kg fish.
The second winner, Samaila Yakubu, who caught a fish weighing 150 kg was given a brand-new motorcycle while Yusuf Abubakar with a catch weighing 120kg. got a grinding machine.
He said the organisers were not being fair to the winners.
A Taraba resident, Gideon Habila who was at the event told DAYLIGHT REPORTERS that
“Overall, it was amazing, but the crowd and the visitors is not really what I expected to see, being an international festival,” he said.
“The energy was low, like in the past I expected to see more visitors and tourists coming from every part of the country, however so far so good.” He noted.
He noted that the event being tagged as international was not given the desired publicity. “Few years ago the loud publicity of the event attracted big companies like MTN, Airtel and many more to be part of the sponsorship.
Mr Habila offered some advice for the subsequent hosts of the festival.
“For awareness, I don’t know how much of that was done because, no sponsors and only few foreign participants to show that something great was happening.
“They must put everything in place, there should be something to create awareness like billboards, handbills, newspapers and television announcements and they should have reached out to big companies for partnership and sponsorship, which they didn’t really do at this festival. That will be my recommendation ahead of the next festival.
“Even though I learnt the government gulped so much money for the event but it wasn’t properly utilised, there is the need for the governor to probe the committee to know what really went wrong.
“Government cannot continue to give people responsibility with taxpayers money and they will fail to deliver without any probe.
Not All bad
Aside from the drawbacks, the 2024 Nwonyo Festival did give some memorable performances that would linger in the minds of many in the years to come.
The event which was last held in 2010, featured cultural displays, a boat regatta, swimming competition and fishing competition in the Nwonyo Lake which borders the River Benue.
The Festival was chaired by Theophilus Danjuma, a retired general and a philanthropist who promised to use his connection to make it “true” international but only if there is peace in the state and across the country.
The governor of Adamawa state, Ahmadu Fintiri and the deputy governor of Benue state, Sam Ode were also at the event as special guests.
Another high point was the economic and commercial values to the ordinary citizens.
From the opening day to the end, business and commercial activities were on a high as traders did brisk business.
From edibles, drinkables to traditional wears, everything was up for sale at the Festival.
All the hotels in the neighbouring Wukari local government were occupied as some visitors were forced to sleep with friends, while most of them slept in vehicles
It is also worthy to note that one of the reasons for the Festival is to promote culture, unity and integration among the people of the state.
To a large extent that was achieved as some selected tribes from across the 3 senatorial zones of the state, displayed their culture and freely mingled with one another.
Governor Kefas noted at the event that the festival was one of various ways his administration was using to promote justice and peace among the different groups in the state.
In his goodwill message, the Namibian ambassador to Nigeria, Godfrey Gesset, acknowledged the relationship between his country and Nigeria which dates back to the days of the Namibian liberation struggle.
He said Namibia is a great fishing nation after mining and that Africans can grow their tourism by cooperating with each other.
In his goodwill message, the Federal Minister of Tourism, Tony Ojeh, said the festival has provided “us the platform to showcase our culture” and celebrate our collective identity.
He added that it was a reminder of the importance of preserving our natural resources.
Other goodwill messages were delivered by the Rivers state Commissioner of Tourism on behalf of his colleagues from across the country and senator, representing Taraba Central in the National Assembly, Haruna Manu. According to Manu, he and his colleagues at the National Assembly will serve as ambassadors of the festival and that they will strive to make it an international event.
