Argungu Festival Ends Today With Fishing Competition
From Andrew Iro Okungbowa and Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Argungu
AS Argungu International Fishing and Cultural Festival comes to an end today, it has been revealed that the annual cultural and communal celebration gulped over N100m, all from the private sector.
This is the first time in the history of the festival that such money is coming from the private sector without the Kebbi State government, which is the host, spending any money.
This disclosure was made yesterday at Fadan Mata, venue of the Kanbachi event by the Chief Consultant to the festival, Mr. Abel Akinosi who described the development as a welcome one, stressing that it is a good omen for the festival, which he said has good prospects for private investors who stand to gain tremendously due to the festival's mass appeal.
"You can see for yourself that it has been a very wonderful event and this is the first time we are having a totally private sector-driven festival and I am very happy personally that it has turned out well. You can see the crowd and the participation of the private sector, which shows that we are taking the festival to greater heights", said Akinosi.
Also speaking on the event, the Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria, one of the festival's partners Mr. Abiodun Odejaiye, said the involvement of his company was based on the huge potential of the festival, adding that the money spent on it is well spent and justified by what he has seen of the festival.
Although he didn't disclose the total amount put in by his company, he said he was happy about the festival and that MTN would continue to support it as part of its effort at building the community.
The annual cultural and tourism event, which started on Wednesday ends today with a colourful closing event to be witnessed by the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan who leads a team of government officials from Abuja.
Besides the grand ceremony, the major event for today's closing ceremony is the grand fishing event where thousands of fishermen from across the state and other neighouring states are expected to compete for the biggest catch at the Matan Fada River.
Yesterday's events ended with the Durbar celebration and cultural night. Among the dignitaries at the event were the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Senator Bello Jibrin Gada, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa'ad Abubakar III, the governor of Kebbi State, Sa'idu Dankingari, his deputy, Ibrahim Aliyu and the former governor of the state and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Adamu Aliero.
