Kalgwai Fishing Festival set to boost tourism, economic growth in Jigawa

Hundreds of participants, residents and guests recently caught a glimpse of a spectacular carnival at the reintroduced Kalgwai Fishing Festival in the Auyo Local Government Area of Jigawa State with winners carting home attractive prices.

The re-introduction of the festival, after it was last conducted in 2015, was the culmination of a chain of activities for residents and visitors which included water sports contests, fishing contests, Gora (gourd) racing for both male and female categories, swimming and diving competitions. The contests ended with the winners returning home with various prizes.

The winners who cut across all categories of the contests at the event smiled home with various prices, awards and gifts, which ranged from motorcycles to irrigation water pumps, sewing machines, grinding machines and cash prizes.

The biggest fish caught at the colourful festival weighed 100 kilograms, followed by 90 and 80 kilograms, respectively. These hauls are bigger than the 78 kilogram biggest fish caught during the popular Argungu Fishing Festival, Kebbi State edition of 2020.

The Bulama of Kalgwai community (traditional head) Usman Magaji, stated joyously that the re-introduction of the fishing festival was highly commendable. He appealed to the state government to sustain it as a yearly event stressing that it would constitute a veritable tourist attraction for the state and Nigeria at large. Mr Magaji said the direct beneficiary would be Jigawa State which would use the regular festivals to display its rich cultural heritage and what it can offer economically and socially to the country and the world as a whole.

“The number of locals that will benefit from this festival is unquantifiable. Even now thousands are here and are benefitting from the festival directly or indirectly because the festival is also telling a story about the entire Hadejia emirate

“We, the people of Kalgwai are delighted over the re-introduction of the festival because it will develop the local skills and improve local economics. With a festival like this, the dam is serving its purposes. It’s improving the lives of the citizens through irrigation farming, rearing of animals, and fishing.

“The Dam was created during the Muhammadu Buhari military regime and it was rehabilitated under the same Muhammadu Buhari administration when he was elected in 2015,” Mr Bulama stated further.

Another resident, Sale Computer, from neighbouring Marke community, said the re-introduction of the fishing festival has brought the government closer to the people and could help improve the local populace’s economic fortunes if sustained and organised in league with all relevant agencies at state and federal levels.

“The festival, if it continues, will also increase the bond between the governor and the people of the area, a testimony to this, is the thousands of people that attended the event.

“The number of people present here should not have been so because many have forgotten about the festival but because they see the governor as a serious person that is why they are trooping in solidarity to attend the event”, Mr Computer said.

He recalled how the fishing festival was conducted in the previous year, but later abandoned by previous administrations.

“The festival was first conducted in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. It was last conducted in 2015. The re-introduction of the festival will help both the residents and the government itself. The winners have won motorcycles, water pump machines, sewing machines, grinding machines and others.

“Women were not left behind in this display of cultural heritage, we are thankful to His Excellency, Governor Umar Namadi for the re-introduction of the festival because it will increase our rural economy and create opportunities for the locals,” Mr Computer said.

Dan Gambo Maitaru, whose group caught the biggest fish, said the contest was successful and pleaded with the governor to sustain the initiative. Mr Maitaru believes the regular staging of the festival as an annual event would help to address some of the problems in the rural communities including rural-urban migration.

A hotelier from Dutse, Ahmad Maigari, said he came to the fishing festival to buy fish for his guests, some of whom he said were expatriates who preferred natural fish from the river.

“The fish here is not an iced fish or mechanised fish; it’s natural river fish, fresh from the river. The taste is different from what you have from the mechanised and iced fish. That is why we usually come over here because a lot of my customers prefer this type of fresh fish from the river, Mr Maigari said.

Also, at the event, the Emir of Hadejia, Adamu Abubakar-Maje, advised the government to expand the fishing festival competition to other riverine areas in the zone to accommodate more contestants.

The emir who was represented at the event by the Galadiman Hadejia, Usman Abdulaziz, said the contest if expanded to other areas will give the locals a sense of belonging and improve their financial incomes.

Umar Namadi, the state governor, said that agriculture, including fishery and aquaculture, is one of the priority areas captured in his administration’s 12-point development blueprint aimed at addressing mass poverty in the state through agricultural engagements. He stressed that his administration would enhance such occupations in the state in order to make the youth gainfully employed.

Mr Namadi said after he came on board mid 2023, the state government stocked three water bodies in the state with 90,000 assorted fingerlings. Each of the water bodies in Birnin Kudu, Ringim, and Hadejia zones was stocked with 30,000 assorted fingerlings. He stated that the aim was to achieve an exponential growth of the fishery sub-sector in the state for the overall benefit of the people, especially their fish protein need for consumption and business.