Moses Oghagbon is the only one who could have
done it, in a seriesof exhibition suitable for thisculturally blend society
with ‘plastic’s and cosmetic’s culture.’ Moses Oghagbon documents Argungun and
its exciting fishing festival in attractive colours.
Moses
Oghagbon is the star of his time and automatically, the best among them. His
‘Argungun Series’ exhibition is on its sixth voyage as the fantastic
documentary auteur has showcased the series at Lagos TerraKulture in 2013, the
second and third series were held at Moorhouse Lagos in 2016 while the fourth
and fifth took place at Kanta Museum, Argungun in 2017. Moses quest for
originality has defined him as a force to reckon with in Nigeria and beyond. The
‘Argungun Series’ has put the forward thinking artist in a class of his own,
making it his identity.In his words, “Argungun Series is an idea borne out of
my tour of the Nigeria project. There is the need to encounter positive
propagation and promotion of the rich culture and artistic heritage of Argungun
Emirates of Kebbi, Nigeria.” His visual compilation of Argungun and the fishing
festival have made him to move a step ahead of his peers, since he decided to
opt out of the box.What has stood Moses out in his exhibition series is each
exhibition, so far, has been staged with different artworks in all the venues.
What an incredible feat! An achievement that is very rare to beat. He is a game changer, which has made him the
face of Argungun in visual colours. One thing about Moses is the power of being
focus.
I rememberbefore
my departure to Sokoto on a cold, cloudy, Wednesday morning inJuly 2009 with ‘Coach’
or ‘Oga Ibrahim,’ a senior colleague of mine while working for a production
company in Lagos, on an assignment for a media and campaign promotion of a
beverage brand, my Parish Priest had admonished us in his evening mass homily
on Tuesday, the power of patience, courage and passion. He told us to always be
prepared to ‘eat the venom first before the honey.’ We should learn to endure the test period of
life but never to give up on our aspirations, because good things don’t always
come easy. The Reverend Father took us through the story of Moses, regaling us
with the Book of Exodus, Pharaohand Children of Israel for us to ponder. His
homily was lucid and self-explanatory, I couldn’t ask for more. One good thing
is to stay focus and never to be unbalanced.
By 6.am the
next morning, I was at Iddo Park in Lagos with ‘Coach’ getting set for a
journey to Sokoto and [3] other Northern States in Nigeria. We were ushered
into a Peugeot car, a wagon to be précised and one Sokoto bred, tall man joined
us, smoking his hot cigarette to chill, while four college graduates, two
ladies and two guys respectively, also joined on the same mission for their
National Youth Service Program in Kebbi State. The driver, an Ilorin native,
Kwara State talkative, was all over the park, boasting about his conquest on
women to his other colleagues which later proved to be his weakness as we drove
out of Lagos.
As we sped
off from the park, every one of us started calling our loved ones that we are
off. But the college graduates on a mission to serve their fatherland were
somehow dejected and started bemoaning their fate concerning the posting. They
lacked the courage and patience to travel down Birnin-Kebbi. For them, it was
helluva of a journey, but for me and ‘coach’, it was passion now putting food
on our table.
Funny
questions were being thrown our way by the fresh graduates about the northern
part of Nigeria, since they are ‘aliens’ to such trips and places. They really
wanted to know about meningitis and tsetse flies. One of the ladies wanted to
know how big the flies in the north are. She wanted to know about whopping
cough. ‘Coach’and the ‘Sokoto’ man debunked all the false assertions, rather,
they encouraged them to learn and know more about the country they dwell in.
They should see the posting as a call to serve their fatherland and make
tourist adventures out of Kebbi State. ‘Coach’ later asked them if they have
ever heard of Argungun fishing festival from Kebbi State. They all chorused,
Argungun what?!!!
Nigerian
born painter, culture connoisseur and documentary auteur, Moses Oghagbon, is
indeed a genuine artist. He delves into epic form of his vocation that looks
too dangerous for his contemporaries. Moses memories of Argungun stems from the
fact that he had his compulsory one year mandatory posting of the National
Youth Service Scheme in Kebbi State, where one of Africa’s fishing festivals is
being held annually. Argungun town and the fishing festival have both enjoyed
international presence, drawing tourists, international mediaand culture
purists to the town. The joy of Argungun
on the face of the people and their love for what is originally theirs cannot
be underestimated.
Moses Oghagbon
graduated from the prestigious Federal Polytechnic Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria.
This is one school that has given Africa an endless list of Art and Culture
professionals. It is a school whose academic presence and records soar beyond
the shores of Nigeria and Moses is one of the well horned products of the
school. A walk around his studio in Ipaja end of Lagos will surely give a clue
that the dude of an artist has his mind in one place. He unleashes quality
collections that are not just bogus drawings, instead creations that are explanatory
in style.
Argungun is
inhabited by the Kabawa people. It is a town by the bank of the river Rima and
was said not to have been affected by the Fulani jihad. Thus, when the then
Sultan of Sokoto, Mallam Dan Mu’azu, visited the place on a friendly term, the
people gave him a grand reception which featured among other things, the
Argungun festival. And this marked the origin of the festival which has become
the most significant identity of the town.
The entire
festival spans four days and features agricultural shows, bike racing archery
and others. It is a seasonal festival usually celebrated between late February
and early March. The ceremony is opened with a moving cultural dance and a
performance by praise singers. Groups from different emirates present their
dances to commemorate the festival. The Kabano which comes up on the third day
is a water event of bare hand fishing with no sex discrimination. It also
features activities like people rowing their canoes, water rescue techniques,
as well as, men swimming with pots balanced on their heads.
The grand
fishing festivity is, of course, the concluding aspect of the Argungun
festival. As the name implies, it is a fishing contest. The fishing side is
called ‘Matan Feda’. Rituals are made. Dignitaries, including the Sultan, take
their seats after which the trumpet for the commencement of the competition is
sounded. This is followed by the excitement and rush of the competitors into
the small body of water in their eagerness to be winners.Fishermen, with their
net gourds, drive into the water striving to catch the biggest fish of the day.
Each catch is weighed and tagged in the presence of the spectators who clap and
cheer the fishermen whose nerves are cooled by the soothing music of the
Kalangu minstrels in canoes.
As we got
to Jebba and drove over the Niger Bridge, we alerted the ‘Corps members’ of the
famous River Niger and they all jumped off from their scattered sleeping
postures, despite the exhaustion on their faces, due to the long journey.
Gleefully, they were back to life staring at one of the longest rivers in
Africa. The ‘Coach’ reminded them of Mr Bako and his family vacation nationwide
traveling expedition in the famous NOEC English text way back. They were also
able to see the mausoleum of Mungo Park, the white expeditioner that discovered
the source of the river. But again, the driver started his phone-call endless
interruptions and disturbing the journey with numerous lies and fantasies of escapades
with women that has started becoming too boring for us. “A long drive still
awaits us guys”, Oga Ibrahim quips and the guys moan themselves back to sleep.
One of them even gush, “This country is too big to be one!”
The oneness
that Argungun fishing festival brings to its people, community, tourists and the
world over makes it a unique festival among all. The contest is not a do or die
affair, rather, it promotes healthy rivalry, spirit of sportsmanship and unity
in state-building as demonstrated by Moses Oghagbon in his many creations. In
sweeping strokes, he painted the town and its festival in vivid, bold and rapid
colours. In fact, the artist captured the joy, hazards, painstaking moments,
sober looks of losers, happiness of winners, nets-mending contestants, crowd
yelling to support their own, dance and
music known for the festival, hallmark of labour, hard work, energy, beauty,
emotions, reactions, moments, hues and cries of the game. The ballyhoo that characterizes
the festival was captured by the great Moses whose memories of the event brought
the festival closer to Nigerians on canvas.He saw just beyond a town and its
historic festival, rather, Moses did a yeoman’s job by reawakening our
consciousness to the great diamond of tourism, a wealth in our hands but we
blindly refused to see.
The Kabawa
people of Argungun Local Government Area of Kebbi State will be so proud of
Moses Oghagbon for the wonderful mastery and documentation of their culture andfestival
to promote cultural integration among Nigerians, Africans and the world at
large.
As if the rhetoric
of cultural integration really made any sense to some of my co-travelers. Not
until when we got to Birnin – Kebbi, we discovered our supposedly professional
driver who was full of self-elation was also very tired of the journey. His
energy got dissipated so fast for a journey of a 12 hour drive to Sokoto. We
were woken up from our unconscious nature when the loquacious man of the road
couldn’t control his steering wheel any longer. Twice, he swerved off his lane,
and then already in the dark, he wasted our time and messed up our scheduled
time of getting to our destination. As for my fellow travelers…, some were
seriously snoring. The driver had no choice but to concur to nature and started
appealing why he wouldn’t want to go farther. “I am somehow tired o” we heard
him spoke in his Ilorin accented Yoruba language. But a decision that was
unacceptable for me, ‘coach’ and the Sokoto indigene. “I will get you people
another vehicle that will take you to Sokoto”, he begged. “Then what about this
corps members? ‘Coach’ asked. “I will take them to the nearest destination to
their orientation camp site”, he explained, as he begged to be relieved of his
duty.
The ‘corps
members’ never got to see Argungun which was another 90 minutes’ drive to
Sokoto as they found themselves in a lurch. One of them moaned behind me as
they were alighting from the car, “I won’t come here again after this
orientation exercise, I promised myself” he grunted.
Moses
Oghagbon got to Birnin – Kebbi, served in Argungun and participated in Argungun
festival as a tourist. Today, his compelling visual story is a beautiful ride
for anyone to embark, to see Argungun town and its fishing festival.Moses
incredible composure, organised values, patience and well documented mind brought
glory and colour to his doorsteps. He didn’t give up on his journey; rather, he
saw to the end and finally got to his destination without musing over the
stretch. He stayed focus. His effort will surely be appealing in a coffee book
in the future.
Only three
of us now, myself, ‘coach’ and the Sokoto man embarked on another 90 minutes’
drive to Sokoto. We drove through the famous town Argungun unnoticed, simply,
because the vehicle that we later embarked on, had no headlights on! Scenarios as
such were no stranger to us again, when we considered the torrid journey we
just escaped from earlier. Our new driver was so brave on the road. ‘Coach’,
myself and the Sokoto man asked few questions about our safety on the road with
no headlight on, the driver only giggled and muttered to us in Hausa language, “walahi ba wahala, Allah kiaye”meaning ‘believe
me, no problems. Journey mercies.’ We got to Sokoto BusPark about 2am the next
morning!
Moses
Oghagbon “Argungun in Colours” the sixth edition comes up in September in the
city of Kano.
Words/Ireho
Aito
Artworks/ Moses Oghagbon
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