BINI Riva Life Festival Celebrates Riverine Culture, Blue Economy

Oboghoro community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State was on Sunday, transformed into a colourful carnival as the BINI Riva Life festival showcased the rich culture, traditions and economic potential of Nigeria’s riverine communities.

The festival, held as part of activities marking the fifth coronation anniversary of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, featured fishing competitions, river games, riverside runs, marathon races, seafood market festivals, cultural and historical exhibitions, museum experiences, as well as art, photography and lifestyle displays.

The 10-man paddling competition and fishing contests provided some of the major highlights of the celebration, while the sporting activities offered participants an opportunity to display skills closely connected to life along the waterways.

Speaking at the grand finale, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, announced that all riverine communities in Nigeria would be connected to telecommunications networks before the middle of 2027. He said the Federal Government was installing 3,700 facilities in rural communities and would return to Obighoro-Ogheye in October to flag off the network project.

The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said arrangements had been concluded to include the BINI Riva Life festival in her ministry’s annual calendar from January to December to attract local and foreign tourists. She also urged riverine communities to intensify fishing activities and develop the sector to international standards.

The BINI Riva Life Games Coordinator, Uchie Chijoke, said the sporting programme included fishing prizes, short- and long-distance marathon races and river games. “We had a lot of games, the fishing prizes, we had six winners. We had a marathon race. We had short distance and long distance race. We had the River Games, the 10-man paddling,” he said.

The organisers said the festival was designed to celebrate the unity and oneness represented by flowing water while promoting the potential of riverine communities in fisheries, tourism, transportation, sports, creative industries and other areas of the blue economy