3:36:00 AM
It was on a cloudy Sunday evening in
Lagos. A large number of eager fans were gathered on the sandy pitch and
the venue was the Jalisco Sports Centre at Oshodi, a highly populated
area in the state.
The fighters looked set for the
showdown, however; the nervous looks on the faces of the spectators were
frank enough to take a calculated guess of the amount they had wagered
on the contest.
Then the referee whistled for the fight
to begin. With that official command, the two men sweating to hold back
the fighters suddenly let go of the leashes and the animals charged at
each other like raging bulls.
The sound of the collision rang round the playground and was immediately met by a huge cheer from the crowd.
“Oh! This is real fun; Shakiti Bobo is no match for Kill and Go,” a spectator with a deep voice shouted.
Our correspondent figured that the black ram was named Kill and Go while its opponent, a white ram with a brown patch at its back, was Shakiti Bobo.
Kill and Go and Shakiti Bobo
slowly retreated in opposite directions and then charged at each other
again. And as they got closer to each other, they reared a little and
brought their heads down to deliver the resounding blows.
The ritual went on again and again and again, each time, with renewed venom.
Ram fighting: the sport
It was the preliminary round but a lot
was at stake. A chance to make it to the group stage of the Annual
National Ramfighting Competition beckoned the owners, and unfortunately
for the rams that have to endure the head butts too. It was a realistic
prospect for the owners as their rams repeatedly charged at each other.
Then the rams showed signs of fatigue. Soon the glorious prospect of making the national tournament perished for Skakiti Bobo, who had started to retreat, surely to the satisfaction of Kill and Go’s fans in the crowd, including the man with the deep voice.
The last blow it delivered seemed to have done the job as Shakiti Bobo fled the pitch with its owner at its heels. The fight was settled. Kill and Go had won the bout.
Wild jubilations seized the playground as someone in the crowd lifted Kill and Go up, saying the winner would be a worthy representative of the zone.
The proud owner of Kill and Go, an IT consultant, who identified himself as Yinka, said his hard work had paid off.
With a huge grin, he likened the way
rams are prepared for fights to the way professional boxers are
carefully managed before bouts.
“It goes way beyond what you witnessed here today; it is a lot of work and it is very deep,” he said with palpable satisfaction.
Ram fights are usually held in round
enclosures created by the bodies of spectators in Nigeria, where it is a
traditional sport, particularly among its Muslim population.
The deadly sport, which is for the
entertainment of spectators, has continued to grow in popularity and the
competitions have grown bigger with millions of Naira, cars, motor
cycles, freezers, generators and other prizes at stake for different
categories of winners.
Rams are raised and trained specifically
to fight and therefore not killed for their mutton (meat) or sacrificed
during Muslim Sallah celebrations, except they have passed their prime.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that preparing rams for bouts and competitions starts from prospecting for lambs that are potential champions.
The breeding and feeding of such potential champions of ram fights also take special forms.
The Ram Owners Association of Nigeria
and the Ram Lovers Association of Nigeria are the two major groups
involved in the sport in the country. Also, a Facebook forum called RAM
Combat: Fan Zone, offers an online platform for members of the group to
discuss events, buy and sell fighter rams otherwise called gladiators
and share videos and pictures from events.
Interestingly, rich celebrities,
foreigners and executives of banks and multinational companies are some
of those involved in the sport.
To lovers of the sport, each head butt is called a blow.
Otobo
Rams are fed Indian hemp too
A breeder, Mr. Ganiyu Otobo, identified
aggressiveness as one of the qualities to look out for when shopping for
potential gladiators. The horns and foreheads are also features
considered integral for rams to be used for fights.
A pronounced forehead, which is referred
to as ‘guarding’ in the local parlance is one of the important features
of good fighter rams.
Big horns hardly break, which also make
them a good attribute for rams. Some breeders cut off the horn tips as
experience has taught them that such horns are replaced by larger ones.
Some breeders also incise the forehead
of rams to remove a thick mould of flesh that often prevents rams from
fighting once it gets damaged.
“What we do is to encourage a ram that wants to fight,” Otobo said.
“When I notice that a ram is aggressive
towards others, head butting them while they are eating together from
the same bowl, then I may be interested in it, particularly if it also
looks fit. Even then, I will still have to do a lot of work to improve
on its fitness by taking it for frequent road walks.”
Otobo lives in Surulere in Lagos and has
employed a nomad, who takes his rams for road walks to far distances
like Costain, Oyingbo and even the Lagos Island.
Some breeders in Lagos take their
gladiators on fitness walks to other places like Aganga, a deserted area
off College Road in Lagos, where rams can be taken for 10 to 15 km
walks and Odo Akonko (Akonko River), a mountainous area in Ogba, also in
Lagos, which has 77 steps that can be walked up and down.
“At Akonko, the ram can be taken up the
77 steps 20 times and the essence is to enlarge its heart and improve
its fitness,” a ram owner, Mr. Oyindamola Akanni, said.
“The larger the heart, the more it can
withstand the stress of fighting. There are gymnasts that take the rams
on such rigorous walks for a fee.
“The rams must also be well-fed and
there are special feed compositions that are given to them which are
different from what are given to rams reared for meat purpose.
While rams reared for meat are allowed
to grow fat, their counterparts that are bred as gladiators are not
permitted to get heavy. Their breeders are after less fat, strong bones,
horns and teeth for the animals. So they don’t like the special drug
locally called ‘Mawumawu’ that some ram sellers give to their animals to
enhance their size.
Therefore, they are fed special
combinations of malt extract, corn shaft, plantain skin, cassava peel,
wheat cover, sorghum, bean shells and Ugwu leaves.
They are de-wormed quarterly and washed
regularly with shampoo to safeguard them against infections since
logically; an ailing ram is a bad fighter.
Fighter rams are given Codeine
injection, an opium-containing painkilling drug that is sometimes given
to horses. They are also given a lot of calcium to ensure strong bones
and teeth.
Some owners add Indian hemp (powder, seeds and/or weed), gin, beer, salt and stimulants to their rams’ rations.
“Such inducements do not give my rams
power, but they make them fight more fiercely,” said a breeder, Afeez
Folahan, who admitted to including Indian hemp in his animals’ rations.
Luckily for him, rams are not tested for drugs before or after fights, unlike organised human sport competitions.
Akanni
Akanni, who confirmed that some rams are fed with drugs, described the breeding of gladiators as an expensive venture.
He said, “It is very expensive but it
also depends on how deep the owner’s pocket is. Those who give their
rams Indian hemp powder, seeds or weed to eat want to enhance their
aggressiveness. So it won’t make a ram that is not fit fight better but
it will make it to be aggressive.
“Some rams that are really crazy also
take gin and beer, usually the ones in green bottles because rams from
the north usually take drugs from bottles.
“So when they see a green bottle, they
may run after you, thinking it contains their drugs. Some breeders
indulge their rams. The rams will grab the bottles of alcohol with their
mouths and drain the contents. After being fed with Indian hemp or
alcohol, you will see the rams misbehaving, spoiling for a fight and
chasing after persons and animals in sight. And when there is no person
or animal in sight, such will start hitting their heads against the
wall.
“We give rams stimulant to make them eat
well but we don’t enhance their growth with a drug called ‘Mawumawu’,
which some ram sellers use to blow up the size of their animals. This is
the essence of de-worming them so that they can lose their worms and a
lot of fats. After de-worming, rams lose a lot of weight.
“Once they are given salt to eat, it
helps clean their mouths and makes them eat better. An alternative to
that is black stone, which is often sold at ranches and polo clubs,
where they are used for horses. They perform a similar job as the salt.”
Akanni also explained how rams should be
bred on pallets and not on concrete floors to prevent their droppings
from getting stuck in their hooves, as this can give them infections.
It is also believed that rams charge faster during fights when their hooves are dry, healthy and free of impediments.
Interestingly, rams are also psychologically prepared for fights.
About two weeks to the time that Femi Olubayo’s biggest ram, Agbako, is to fight, he makes sure he prevents it from seeing the sunlight.
Naturally, gladiators are kept in
separate cages and Olubayo said that keeping it away from sunlight makes
it more hostile when it is brought out to fight. Extended periods of
isolation, he said, works for rams’ psych and make them realise their
mission when brought out to fight.
He explained that isolation “helps gladiators rest well and prevents them from getting used to the company of other rams.”
At the same time, a gladiator ought to be prepared ahead of major competitions to deal with the large crowd.
Some rams, though good fighters, can be intimidated by large crowds.
A ram owner, Mr. Ajibike Lawal, recalled
that he once had a ram that was the neighbourhood champion, but ran
from a major fight because it was not used to fighting before large
crowds.
The experience taught Lawal to take his
rams with him to competitions in order to acclimatise them to noise and
large number of people.
“When you take rams to major
competitions, they also learn to fight better apart from the fact that
it helps them to be less intimidated by large crowds,” he said.
“After a while, the rams understand the
game and know what they are there to do. They learn from other good
gladiators how to fight better.”
Ram fights are not peculiar to Nigeria;
for instance, the event is a tradition in Russia and in central China,
particularly on the first day of the Chinese New Year.
In Algeria, rams also compete in
fighting tournaments, a local Algerian tradition held in the lead up to
celebrations for Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice.
Gambling and violence
However, ram fighting is often linked to gambling, drug use and violence.
Apart from the winning prizes, spectators engage in side wagers to back their ram of choice.
And with the huge amounts of money involved in betting come the propensity for violent conducts by losers, Otobo said.
He recalled attending a competition where up to N5m was wagered on a ram.
“I’ve seen people put so much money on a ram, up to N5m,” he said.
“And because there is so much money
involved, you will often see ram owners coming to tournaments with
personal security like mobile police officers, even though the
organisers have constitutions that guard conducts.”
Akanni also recalled cases where losers
would angrily butcher the winning rams, saying that some competitors get
emotional when their rams lose.
He said, “It is hard to accept it when
you lose after spending so much money on your ram. Some people would
want to disrupt the fight once they realise they have lost or about to
lose.
“You could see some people coming prepared to fight but the organisation is better now, though.”
And betting patterns are not just about
which ram wins the bout, other favourite things onlookers put their
money on include: which ram charges the other first? Which one runs off
first? Which one runs before 30 blows, 50 blows or 100 blows?
Findings show that with the huge
investment and likely turnover in the sport, people also come to the
competition to buy or steal good gladiators.
“Lovers of the sport know the good
gladiators in the zones, so you see people also offering lots of money
to buy rams that have been champions,” Lawal said.
“I’ve seen where N500,000 was offered to
buy a ram. A couple of years ago, someone offered me N300,000 for one
of my gladiators, but I refused to sell because it was still winning
lots of money for me.”
Akanni recalled how at an event in Mushin area of Lagos, someone sighted his lost ram out of the two fighters in the ring.
“It was a serious matter on that day.
The guy said someone had broken into his yard to steal his ram some
weeks earlier only for him to spot the ram during a competition in
Mushin,” Akanni said.
So one of the ways by which breeders in
the sport try to prevent their rams from being stolen is by often
drenching them with engine oil to discourage taxi drivers or commercial
motor cyclists from allowing their vehicles to be used to transport the
stolen animals.
Nicknames for rams
Gladiators are given interesting names like Shodamo, Rambo, Commando, Ronaldo, Messi, Stainless, Shanko, Big Daddy, Kogberegbe, and so on.
Major tournaments like the Annual
National Ram Competition in Lagos attract rams from all over Nigeria and
beyond, with competitors coming from as far as Cotonou in Benin
Republic.
Therefore to ensure fairness, rams are
grouped into categories A to H for fights, which mean that competitors
can only fight with any ram that falls within the same category with
them.
Categories include 101kg to 120kg; 91kg to 100kg; 81kg to 90kg; 71kg to 80kg; 61kg to 70kg and 51kg to 60kg.
Even with that, there are some deceptions in the process as our correspondent has learnt.
Akanni said, “A ram that is bigger than
the 51kg to 60kg category, for instance, its owner may decide not to
feed it for two days before the competition so that it can drop some
kilos.
“So it will still be bigger and stronger
than the rams in the immediate lower category where it will now fall.
That is one of the tricks people use to win competitions.”
In Lagos, some of the major arenas for
ram fights include the National Stadium, Surulere; Military Barracks,
Shomolu; Onala, Lagos Island; and Yidi and Ile Pako, Agege.
World Animal Day
Meanwhile, October 4 of every year is
the World Animal Day, an international day of action for animal rights
and welfare celebrated annually.
Osagie Ekhator, founder of All About
Animal Survival, a group committed to enlightening the public about
treating animals right, has called for the abolishment of ram fights in
Nigeria and internationally.
He said it was wrong for animals to be bred to fight and induced with drugs.
“It is wrong to use animals to fight because it is an unjust cause,” he said.
“Animals can entertain us in a loving
way and not in a barbaric manner like that. That is why we allow the use
of animals as pets but when you are now killing animals, then something
is wrong.
“We can eat animals but it is wrong to
abuse their privilege by giving them drugs for game fights and killing
them unjustly and treating them anyhow. They are living things like us
so they have feelings too. Treat them with love.
“It may be in the instinct of animals to
fight one another for supremacy but it is wrong for us to be the ones
to make them fight. Animals are very territorial so they fight for
territory, their mates, their family and other reasons, but it is
criminal to induce them to fight for your own selfish reasons or profit
making. Some of them die in the process.”
Also, a doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Adedayo Ojo, described the sport as human wickedness to animals.
He said, “The weaker may die in the
process. In most cases, their horns get damaged. For some, their horns
are totally removed after a fight. There could be bleeding and
occasionally, there could be hemorrhage (internal bleeding) after their
fights. This can also lead to the death of the animal.
“Such fights also affect the immunity of
the animals. They come down with unnecessary illnesses and diseases
because the fights make them susceptible. Once their horn is exposed,
and there is bleeding, it can get infected and this would affect the
animal.”
He said that drugging the animals can damage their brains and make them violent.
He said, “I will not advise the use of
such drugs as Indian hemp or alcohol on animals. The training also
reduces the life span of such animals. It can even get to a point that
the animal becomes a threat to the owner and the owner then decides to
kill it by himself.
He recalled a case where a drugged ram went berserk and charged at its owner, smashing his scrotums in the processsource pungng
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