Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, on Tuesday, called on the Egbira natives of the state to continue to sustain their culture and traditions.
Sule, who was represented by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Shuaibu Labaran Magaji, made the call at the annual Ebira Irewha hunting festival at Shafa-Abakpa in Toto LGA of the state.
He said organising such cultural events is something that his administration will not take for granted, saying such events will go a long way in promoting peace, unity and development not only among the Egbira speaking ethnic group, but across other tribes in the state.
In his speech, the President of the Shafa-Abakpa Community Association (SACA), Comrade Usman Adams, said the Ebira Erewha hunting festival is an annual organised by the group in order to foster unity and development among the entire Egbira nation.
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He said the festival, which is celebrated on 26 December, of every year, attracted all the Egbira sons and daughters including those in diaspora that come to meet and deliberate about peace and development of the Shafa-Abakpa community.
The president, however, identified lack of potable drinking water as a major challenge facing people of Shafa-Abakpa community, saying the community has depended on one borehole since 1982.
On his part, an elder of the community, a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Suleiman Galadima, stressed the need for parents to teach their children on how to embrace culture and traditions, which he said is on the verge of going into extinction.
Daily trust reports that the event witnessed cultural display by various tribes, masquerades, hunting skills, display of various animals caught by the local hunters and presentation of prizes.
