From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
•Canoe ride contest by young women
For Abdullahi Garba, a 25-year-old trader based in Yauri, sighting a live hippopotamus in his lifetime was a phenomenal event that he would never forget in a hurry.
He had been told of how warriors and hunters in Yauri Kingdom used to battle hippopotamuses along river banks whenever they were taking newly-wedded couples to the nearby villages like Gebbe. Gebbe is a riverine village of about 30 minutes boat ride through River Niger from Yauri. He has been seeing the writings and pictures of the hippopotamus, which has been the symbol of the ancient town of Yauri since 1411, which are pasted on the walls of the Emir’s Palace, the Jerabana House.
•Emir of Yauri, Dr. Abdullahi at the event
Garba’s joy became limitless when the Sarki Ruwa of a village, Alhaji Kasabo Sakachi, along with his team, brought a live hippopotamus to the venue of the grand finale of the 2024 Rigata Cultural Festival held in the town of Yauri. The venue was just 10 minutes walk from the Emir’s Palace.
Garba’s excitement and happiness was not restricted to him. It was a feeling shared by many during the 2024 Rigata Cultural Festival. Halimat Issa, from Kontagora town in Niger State, also came to Yauri alongside her friends to sell food and soft drinks during the festival. To their pleasant shock, the widespread news that a live hippopotamus had been brought to the ‘Bakin Ruwa’, made her and her friend jump on a local boat that ferried them to the main venue of the festival to catch a glimpse of the hippopotamus.
She could not hide her excitement as she spoke to Saturday Sun: “I couldn’t believe it when we were told that a live hippopotamus had been brought to the venue. We wanted to see it with our own eyes. We didn’t want anybody to tell us any story that they actually brought a hippopotamus to the Rigata. That is the reason you’re seeing many of us, young girls and boys, on top of these local boats to view the captured live hippopotamus by ourselves,” she enthused.
In Yauri, the memories of the 2024 Rigata Cultural Festival would last for long in the minds of the people of the town due to their affiliations with the hippo, a somewhat mythical animal which has turned to reality for many young folks at the recent concluded festival.
Yauri history, according to elders in the town, would not be complete without the mention of encounters between human beings – hunters – and hippopotamuses within the Yauri Emirate.
According to the history of Yauri, the town was one of the Hausa ancient kingdoms domiciled in present day Kebbi State. The kingdom had two ethnic groups namely; Kambari of mainland and Gungawa living in an island on the River Niger.
It was reported that each group had their established governments before the 15th century when a group of traders from Katsina came and settled among the inhabitants and eventually became their rulers. They were said to have established their dynasty at a place in Kasar Yauri with Tafiraulu as the first Hausa King (1411-1433). The dynasty, it was said, ended with the sixth Sarki Kisagari who ruled between 1531 -1560.
The Sarki Yauri Jerabana 1 came into the power between 1560 and 1572, and his descendants have been the Emirs in the emirate till the present date.
The name of the emirate was said to have been derived from the name of the Sarki Yauri Jerabana, following his demise. However, the symbol of the stool, the hippopotamus, was said to be one of the wild animals usually encountered along the River Niger routes by the brave warriors of Yauri in the 15th century. In those days, the hippopotamus was an animal that usually killed farmers and travellers on the water routes, and disrupted the journeys of newly wedded couples on the water. Whoever killed the hippopotamus was seen as a warrior who must always be reckoned with by the community.
While narrating how the hunting of hippopotamuses was halted, Emir of Yauri, Dr. Muhammad Zayyanu Abdullahi, a former Vice-Chancellor of Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, explained that it was the colonial master that eventually stopped the killing of the hippopotamus and celebration of the Rigata, popularly known as the Yauri Cultural festival.
“It was during the tenure of late Sir Ahmadu Bello, who usually spent his holidays in Yauri, that the Sardauna ordered the resuscitation of the Rigata festival,” he said.
In a dramatic return, the hippopotamus, which was captured alive and brought to this year’s 2024 Rigata cultural festival by one of the surviving warriors of the Emirate known as Sarkin Ruwa from Gungun Sakachi village, caused quite a stir in the crowd.
As the event was at its epic, young men and women who had besieged the venue due to the news that had been spread far and near about the arrival of the hippopotamus, went on rampage in order to get a glimpse of the animal.
Led by the Sarki Ruwa of Gungun Sakachi village, Alhaji Kasabo Sakachi, the people presented a live hippopotamus to the Emir which the latter also presented to the Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Nasir Idris.
In the process of presenting the animal to the governor, the crowd literally went berserk. All the proceedings had to be halted, and security agents and palace guards had to forcefully disperse the unruly crowd before normalcy could return.
While presenting the animal to the governor at the closing ceremony of the festival, Emir of Yauri, Dr Abdullahi, said the animal would be preserved for the governor so that he would be seeing it anytime he wanted to. He urged the governor to create a museum at the Government House where the animal could be kept and always made available to any guest who visited him.
While welcoming the invited guests, the Secretary to the Kebbi State Government, Alhaji Bala Yakubu Yafida, who is also the Chairman of the 2024 Rigata Cultural Festival, disclosed that the state government has promised to make the festival an annual event, stressing that a permanent structure would be constructed at the venue of the event.
Also speaking, Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris, promised that the state government would ensure that the festival would be holding annually, assuring that the government would also ensure that the venue of the festival is moved to it permanent site next year.
Idris, who commended the Emir of Yauri for uniting the people of the Emirate through the festival, noted that he and many guests who witnessed the festival for the first time had learnt a lot about Yauri Kingdom’s rich culture and bravery of their warriors.
“On Malando -Wara Road, I will join hands with the minister to make sure that the FGN releases funds to the contractor so that he can return to site. We have awarded the contract for the construction of a mega school in Yauri, five kilometres of roads in Yauri, Ngaski and Argungu.
“We are also up to date in the payment of salary, pension and gratuity, to which the HOS can testify. We have purchased 25,000 solar powered pumps and ordered additional CNG powered pumps for distribution to farmers free of charge,” he stated.
Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, through his representative, Hon Garba, assured the people of Yauri that the Federal Government would continue to bring developmental projects to the town through HYPPADEC. He also noted that the Rigata Cultural Festival signifies historical moment of brave warriors of Yauri who were determined to protect their people, economic property and culture. He stressed that the Federal Government would partner with the Kebbi State Government to promote the cultures of the state for meaningful development and unity.
He commended the Emir of Yauri for bestowing the traditional title of ‘Sadaukin Yauri’, on him and promised that he would continue to contribute to the progress of the town.
The 2024 Rigata also featured the displays of agricultural products, procession of different tribes with their attire, and swimming competitions among the young boys and women. A car gift was presented to the Sarkin Ruwa of Sakachi village for bringing a live hippopotamus to the event. Other winners in various competitions were also given different gifts.
The ceremony was witnessed by several dignitaries, including Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, represented by Alhaji Sanusi Garba, the former Speaker of Zamfara State House of Assembly, Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Idris Muhammad Gobir, Emir of Kontagora, Emir Kagara, and Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu among others.