It was a beautiful scenery and lively outing in the University during the maiden edition of its Fishing Sports Festival, held at the Fish Farm, Directorate of University Farms (DUFARMS) of the University. Speaking at the well-attended event, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, reiterated University Management’s drive at ensuring industrial harmony on campus through extra-curricular activities, adding that FUNAAB was very proud of the work that DUFARMS had been doing. According to him, “We are quite proud with the work that DUFARMS has been doing in the University in the past few years. Two years ago, the University sponsored some staff of DUFARMS to Songhai Farms, Benin Republic, to go and understudy what was happening there. Just some few weeks after their return, they were proud to invite all of us to come and see the model they were trying to build within the University. We were able to see their snailery and the pineapple plantation, which I believe have been yielding fruits in the past few months.

Reminiscing on how the structure for the Fishing Sports Festival was built, the Vice-Chancellor said that “Last year, we were here to see the fish ponds that have been incorporated into the schedule of DUFARMS. I am glad that just a year after that, they have been able to improve on that initial innovation by building rafters upon the ponds so that facilities for fish sporting could be available in our University”. He, therefore, called on members of FUNAAB community to seize the opportunity of carrying out quality and extensive research.

Corroborating the Vice-Chancellor, the Director of DUFARMS, Mr. Michael Jaiyeola, said that one of the major aims of the Directorate was to make the University attain a world-class status, noting that DUFARMS’ staff had been pursuing the attainment of such goals diligently. He further recalled a trip to the Songhai Farms, Republic of Benin with members of his team, where they had first-hand information on how to successfully run an integrated farming system. He stressed that there were different ventures interacting together on the same farm, adding that there was a zero-wastage practice system. According to him, “Nothing is wasted on the farm”.

Mr. Jaiyeola said that the team came back and replicated what they saw, which included the Fishing Sports Festival. According to him, the competitors were timed and when the time was up, the fishes caught were weighed, noting that the competitor with the highest weight became the winner. The Director, however, stated that the maiden edition was free for all competitors but for the subsequent editions, the competitors would be billed, which would serve as a good source of income for the University. “Our intention is to make money. We would like to demonstrate how to make money. We would also like to encourage members of the University community, who have never been here, to please, find time to visit us regularly. There are a lot to learn. We want to satisfy your needs in terms of food. We would also like our researchers to find time to come, as there are facilities on ground to perform their researches and get good results”, he stated.

Commenting on the health implications of the festival, the Director said it was a great reliever of stress, saying that it fosters better relationship among the University community members. Meanwhile, the DUFARMS Fish Farm has three main species of fish in the pond, which are mainly catfishes (Clarias sp), Tilapia and Heterotis niloticus. The catfishes cover three quarters of the population in the ponds. The ponds were basically for teaching and research. However, the particular pond that was used for the festival had never been harvested and fed before as they were purely gotten from wildlife.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, during the Management Category of the competition, caught three fishes weighing a total of 2.2kg. Highpoint of the festival was the presentation of gifts to the overall winner under the Staff Category, Mr. Chiedu Ogbuagor, a postgraduate student; the First Runner-Up, Mr. Kazeem Makinde of the Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC); and the Second Runner-Up, Mr. Olasunkanmi Olajide of the Directorate of Public Relations of the University, while several consolation prizes were awarded to competitors at the colourful occasion.