Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi State government has inaugurated a 16-member committee for the 2020 Argungu fishing festival.
Deputy Governor Col. Samaila Yombe Dabai (retd), who inaugurated the Committee on behalf of the state government, enjoined the committee to work hard to make the task before it easier.
The Committee, which comprises of Commissioners of various Ministries, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Commissioner of Police, and representative of Argungu Emirate, has the Deputy Governor as its Chairman, while the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce serves as Acting Secretary.
Addressing committee members at their maiden sitting, the Deputy Governor said: “We are all aware that the Argungu fishing festival is one singular international event that takes place in Kebbi State once in a year.
“Unfortunately, for unseen circumstances which we cannot explain, this event could not hold for the past few years.
“However, His Excellency, Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, has summoned courage in pushing that this event takes place this year. We must thank him for that singular efforts.”
In his remarks, the former Director-General of Argungu Fishing Festival (AFF), Alhaji Abubakar C Ladan, who is also newly Commissioner-designate, informed the committee that before the festival ceased to hold regularly about ten years ago, the government had stopped funding it because the festival independently generated plenty of revenue to sponsors itself.
Ladan, who listed strategies and plans to be adopted for the successful holding of the event, said that the state government and the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Samaila Mohammad Mera, will have to visit President Muhammad Buhari to personally invite him for the event as part of diplomatic tradition they employed in the previous editions of the festival.