Taraba Community Seeks Probe Of Nwonyo Fishing Festival

The people of Ibbi, the host community of Nwonyo Cultural and Fishing Festival in Ibbi local government area of Taraba State have called on Governor Agbu Kefas to probe the activities of the committee that handled the just concluded Nwonyo Cultural and Fishing Festival.

The call came as the prize winners at the festival expressed disappointment over the gifts presented to the biggest fish catcher and the runner-up.

The committee was headed by the Taraba State deputy governor Alhaji Aminu Alkali, prominently featured was the state commissioner for Information and Re-orientation, Bar. Zeinab Jalingo and the state commissioner for culture and ecotourism, Hon Joseph Nagombe.

Hutu Yakubu, came first during the fishing competition with the biggest catch weighing 170 kilograms, Yusuf Abubakar came second with a catch weighing 150 kilograms while Ismaila Yakubu came third with a catch weighing 120 kilograms during the event which was concluded on Saturday 20th of April 2024.

One of the prize winners who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity lamented that the grand prize, (Honda Accord 1999 Model) presented to Hutu Yakubu was republished and was not capable of driving the grand prize winner home from the venue of the event. “I believe the governor was not aware of the kind of vehicle they presented, he wouldn’t have allowed it,” he stated.

The community members who also shared their experiences from the previous events compared to the 2024 festival urged the governor to probe how funds allocated for the event were utilized such that the festival was not properly managed to have glamour compared to the past event.

“The committee for the 2024 fishing festival visited us here in Ibbi, they presented to us images of prizes the governor earmarked for winners of the competitions at the event, we went all out to participate with zeal and strength, we know our governor with quality, we believe the prizes presented by the committee were not what the governor voted for the event. One of the prize winners stated in Hausa language.

“Despite that we are happy that Governor Kefas has revived the Nwonyo Fishing Festival, it should not be an opportunity to hide and embezzle funds being allocated by the state government, the governor has good intention and those scheduled with responsibilities should complement his efforts by using the funds effectively, we demand that they should be probed and let’s know those who are sabotaging the governor.

“We heard people who came from the communities complaining on how they were invited to come and participate but at the end of the day, nobody spoke to them and they were left to cater for themselves and go back without seeing any of the committee members. The community members lamented,” Liman Adasho, one of the community leaders stated.

LEADERSHIP reports that Hutu Yakubu who caught the biggest fish that weighed 170kg was presented with a grand prize of a Honda Accord, Yusuf Abubakar who caught the second biggest fish that weighed 150kg was presented with a motorcycle while Ismaila Yakubu who came third was presented with a grinding machine.