Kebbi State Governor, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, has appointed Turakin Kebbi, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa, as Senior Special Assistant on Tourism Matters, with a clear mandate to restructure and rebrand the Argungu Fishing Festival into a notable world-class cultural event.
The festival, on global tourism calendar, brought fame and honour to Nigeria nay Kebbi State, but disappeared completely from the global cultural watch list due to unexplainable circumstances, thereby denying Kebbi State the needed tourism dollars and to the people, access to foreign investments on hospitality and loss of jobs.
Indeed, the governor’s choice and appointment of Alhaji Kangiwa to revamp the festival and the entire tourism architecture of the state sign- post a fresh start off for the famous festival, which at its height, was Nigeria’s face of culture tourism to the world.
Alhaji Kangiwa, a prince of the Kebbi Emirate Kingdom and a frontline tourism investor, has hit the ground running with key projects that would create signature influence on the about-to-be rebranded festival, beginning with critical assessment of other special cultural offerings in the state.
In a press release issued in Lagos by Frank Meke, the tourism media coordinator to Alhaji Kangiwa, the comeback bid of Argungu Fishing Festival would add a fresh flip to the desire to open up the cultural offerings of northern Nigeria to which Kebbi State was once a notable tourism destination, attracting both foreign and local visitors in droves not only to witness the fishing festival, but to appreciate the state’s huge basin as agriculture wonderland.
According to Alhaji Kangiwa, “the Lake Rice produced in Kebbi State in which Lagos State is a major investor, is an indication to the fact that Kebbi would also leverage on this window to open up a special tour to the state on agricultural offerings and a greet-and-meet project at the Emir’s Palace for visitors to appreciate our tradition and hospitality”.
