Festival revives community spirit

Thousands of fishermen descended the milky waters of the Matan Fadan river, a UNESCO heritage site that snakes through lush vegetation at the town of Argungu in Nigeria’s northwest. Several thousand onlookers, including President Bola Tinubu, cheered them on as they competed to hook the biggest fish, even as security issues kept some people away. Competitors used only traditional angling techniques, such as hand-woven nets and large calabash gourds. Some used their bare hands to demonstrate their skills. The waterway in Kebbi state was filled with woven nets and canoes as the fishermen forded the river. This year’s winner caught a croaker fish weighing 59 kilograms. The winner is paid a cash prize, and the other participants get to sell their catch, boosting the local economy. The small river is closed for the rest of the year.