Kwete: The thrills and frills of Bachama festival

The much talk about Bachama Kwete annual cultural festival was celebrated with a lot of styles and funfairs at Lamurde area in Adamawa State. So many sons and daughters of Bachama extraction graced the ceremony.First time visitors as well as residents of the state had to pass through bumpy, bad roads to the venue and […]

The much talk about Bachama Kwete annual cultural festival was celebrated with a lot of styles and funfairs at Lamurde area in Adamawa State. So many sons and daughters of Bachama extraction graced the ceremony.
First time visitors as well as residents of the state had to pass through bumpy, bad roads to the venue and among the multitudes was the paramount Bachama ruler. The crowd expressed excitement at wanting to watch the Bachama wrestling fiesta. The event also featured traditional song renditions and folklores’ competitions, among others.
People waited under a makeshift structure close to the monarch’s palatial seat without shoes as a mark of respect to the royal father.
On the other side of the place, stoutly built young  and   old persons were seen entering the arena amidst shouts of excitement, while the local wrestlers in their mid 20s, squat and wait anxiously for their opponents to arrive.
The festival has a historic inclination as Kwete is celebrated in March of every year and has spiritual significance. During the fiesta, certain rites are said to be carried out by the Hama Bachama to ensure good harvests at the end of the current farming season. Sacrifices are offered to “Homonpwa ka Puledan,” a vegetarian god that is revered among  the Bachamas during the wrestling fiesta. After the sacrifices, the indigenes become satisfied that the vegetation god will ensure bountiful harvests as well as guarantee the community’s well-being.
Interestingly, this is the first festival organized under the reign of the new Bachama monarch, Hama Bachama Homun Honest Irmiya Stephen (Kwiremana Kpfrato II) and the last was by former Chief Asaph Zadock, who is dead.
Kwete cultural festival which usually takes seven days marks the beginning of a new calendar year for cultural activities all over Bachama Kingdom.
A title holder in the kingdom and former commissioner in the state, Chief Crowther Seth (Nze’anzo Bachama), told Weekly Trust that the festival  “creates an avenue for public enlightenments on the economic activities in the community, such as farming and to appease the gods for good rains and bumper harvests.
“The festival is a rallying point and attracts all sons and daughters of Bachama Kingdom from all walks of life to come together and participate in the cultural reawakening of our people.”
The festival also serves as an avenue where the royal father counsels his subjects in all aspects of human endeavours so that they live responsibly as well as engage in economic and viable ventures.
Of recent, more innovations were introduced to create more fun during the festival and they include scrabbles, dancing, singing of songs throughout the nights and the giving out of prizes.
This year’s event witnessed the presentation of bulls with ox- drawn ploughs to winners to boost agriculture.
“The new trend is meant to encourage young people to engage in farming with vigour as the festival is supposed to enhance farming and not to just win cars,’’ said Crowther Seth.
Other side attractions newly introduced were performances by female dancing troupes from major towns and villages of Bachama speaking communities; the exhibition of Bwattiye antiquities in a Bwatiye stereotype house setting, the testing of some female grinding skills with grinding stones, male archery and other female games, which featured on the first day of the occasion.
During the wrestling match proper, poetic songs were rendered to charge the mood of the participants in the following manner: “Kawata mbomiye, ji morye nduwa gawe-a-go, nga loko hine du zo. “Kawata mbomiye a bo, ji morye nduwa gawe-a-go,nga loko gbinde janga.”
Lamurde contingents were disqualified for unruly behaviors and teenage wrestlers battled to outsmart each other.
The battle begins when a young well built teenager from a camp steps into the arena, picks sand and throws them to his opponent in the other camp, thereby inviting him for a wrestling contest. Inside the field, a woman called “Rekye” holds a long whip known as ‘Twala’ to referee the contests.
Every contestants looks out for opponents, picks them to the excitement of spectators, who yell for action.
While the wrestling match is on, muscles are flexed with a lot of struggling between the wrestlers and at the end; winners emerge with deafening ovations by the spectators.
The paramount ruler of Bachama said   the wrestling tradition amongst the Bachamas dates back to some 300 years ago. “Its remote origin is embedded in Bachama myths and legends, part of which holds that a spirit god – ‘Pulla-Hasei’ of the Waduku people – handed down the tradition,” Homun   Stephen, the monarch said.
Also in her words, the monarch’s wife, Queen Stephen, said   the competition was designed to empower women through sporting activities.
“The tournament is to encourage young female athletes and men to develop their talents as well as promote unity among the people of the Bachama community,” she said.
She noted that the wrestling competition is a veritable poverty eradication tool, as it provides means of livelihood for youths in the community.
“As long as a person exhibits certain abilities and skills, whether the person is a woman or man, that person should be given the opportunity to use them,” said Pwaneno, one of the retired female wrestlers.
“Bachama people are well known for their bravery and some of their women are hailed as accomplished wrestlers, which is not common in our society,” she adds.
Chairman of the event’s local organizing committee, Mr. Crowther Seth (Nzeanzo Bachama), described the Bachamas as nice people with an excellent culture that does not discriminate. “If all monarchs would encourage their subjects through the organization of such competitions, as King Homun Irmiya does, our society will move forward,” he added.
According to him, learning and imbibing the culture and lifestyles of other tribes in the country will enhance national cohesion.