Niger — The military intervention was expected to bring an abrupt end to the cultural event. But that did not happen. Instead, it continued to the point where the last man standing emerged. While speaking to this reporter few days before the military takeover, one of the tournament's principal organizers and its Technical Director, Malama Barka, claims: "wrestling is to Niger, what football is to Brazil." He can't be wrong!

Its survival in the face of the military coup d e'tat, was an explicit account of Nigeriens affinity with and love for the local sport, which cut across social classes.

Traditional wrestling competition was first introduced into the country in 1975 by its then new military rulers , and the first place to host the national event was the Province of Taohoua. Since the inception of the contest, Niger Republic has witnessed 31 wrestling competitions yearly, including the one that ended recently in Zinder.

The cultural relevance of wrestling to Niger's homogenous society, is explained by the participants that are drawn from all the eight provinces that make up the country, including Niamey, the capital. With the entire population, Hausas, Tauregs, Fulanis, Kanuris, Zarmas and the Gurmas, taking part in the championship, no citizen of Niger is left out, which is why it is truly national. Every year, ten heavyweights representing each of the provinces, compete in a highly competitive and revered final , that sees the fittest of the fittest grab a coveted sword trophy, and a fortune as monetary prize.

The selection of 80 finalists who will compete against each other is a rigorous process that is usually started at the individual province level, where able-bodied young men are matched against one another in a series of bouts until 10 strong men remain .

Throwing the opponent to the ground is all that is required for a win, and any contestant who makes it to the finals, must have been a professional winner, who is adequately conversant with winning techniques. Being that it has always been a meeting of the best hands, no wrestler, no matter his dexterity and number of victories, dares enter the ring without loads of potent backups.

The rules of the contest allow use of charms and other supernatural powers to ensure victory. Most of the supplements are used or invoked conspicuously to the glare of opponents and spectators. It is not strange therefore, to see a wrestler murmuring incantations before the start of a match, or using amulet to touch the body of his opponent.

Usually bouts are started with a show of contempt against opponents with moves like cupping their heads in the palm, or attempting to grasp their hands. And when a fights stalemated, it is ended in a draw, but when a winner emerges the vanquished is tasked with duty of tailing behind him as he goes round, row after row, collecting cash gift from dignitaries.

When a bout is on, praise singers treat the wrestlers to songs of bravery, in order to spur them to win.

This year alone, the government of Niger Republic pumped a whopping sum of CFA80million into organizing the tournament. From this amount and other donations from sponsors, the first to fourth positions winners, were awarded with cash prizes.

To further underscore the importance of the yearly cultural activity to the country, deposed President Mamadou Tandja ordered Ministers of Youth and Sports Alhaji Kazalma Umar, and that of Culture Alhaji Umaru Hadari, to relocate their offices and staff from Niamey to the host province , until the 10-day national event was over. Malam Barka said Tandja was personally interested in the championship, and was therefore "closely monitoring its progress."

The opening ceremony, which was held on Friday 12, February 2010, saw the display of Niger's rich culture of dancing and singing; troupes after troupes entertained guests, comprising first class traditional rulers, parliamentarians and foreign guests, including some from Nigeria. While declaring this year's event open, Minister of Youths and Sports Alhaji Kazalam Umar, reminded the heavyweights of the mouthwatering gifts that awaited winners.

The contestants, ten each from the provinces of Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Taohoua, Tillaberi and Zinder (Damagaram), were subsequently reminded by the President of the International Traditional Wrestling Federation and President of Niger Traditional Wrestling, Alhaji Abuba Ganda, about the place of local wrestling to Nigeriens as a people , and to Niger as a country, urging them to play by the rules and continue to give the country a formidable representation at international wrestling arenas.

Similarly, the Emir of Damagaram Alhaji Muhammadu Mustafa Kakali charged the wrestlers to be of good conduct throughout the period of the championship, while he joined the secretary to the government of Zinder Ibrahim Agume and Zinder Council President Laminu Suleman to express appreciation over the choice of the province as the host for this year's tournament.

Damagaram has hosted the event 7 times , and its sons have won the coveted and highly prized sword trophy 7 times, its leaders proudly recalled at the gathering.

Thousands of spectators, who thronged the Zinder Arena venue of the competition, were allowed to witness the opening ceremony free of charge. The fight proper commenced on Saturday 13 February with a bout between Salisu Ouza of Agadez and Zarto Yahaya of Tillaberi, where the former was defeated. For the next seven days, pairs from the eight participating provinces were slugging it out in an elimination series, until all the provinces were paired against each other. And at the end, the capital Niamey had been eliminated from the contest for a sword, as all her contingents have been thrown to the ground.

Initially, the tournament put up some surprising defeats, when heavyweights and big wrestling names like Abubakar Umaru Chera from Dosso, Isa Dangwara from Maradi and Murtala Sani also from Maradi, were defeated by newcomers like Yahaya Kaka from Taohoua and Yakubu Adamu from Niamey.

Three times champion and sword winner, Bala Haruna from the host province of Zinder, was defeated in the quarter final rounds, during a clash with defending champion Laminu Maidabba from the province of Agadez.

At the initial stage, there was a large turnout of spectators. However with the uncertainty that blanketed the country after the sudden overthrow of Tandja's government, the crowd thinned.

The day of the grand finale, Sunday 21 February, featured a bout between the defending champion, Maidabba and Muhammadu Annafi of Taohoua. The match ended in a defeat against Annafi, who clinched the second position. Twice in succession, Agadez and Taohoua were squaring up at the grand finale, and twice Agadez was trashing Taohoua to claim victory.

The tournament winner, Maidabba, received a cash prize of CFA 5million, a horse and a sword, while Annafi, who came second, received CFA 3million. The third and fourth position winners Umaru Bindigau from Maradi and Tasi'u Ibrahim from Diffa, received CFA1.7 and CFA1million respectively.

During a chat with our reporter after his second contest in the just ended tournament, Maidabba disclosed that the secret of emerging victorious at a wrestling contest is luck. "When God makes you the victor, nobody can upstage you," he said, even though he said wrestlers are spurred by supporters who cheer them up during fights. "That gives me a lot of encouragement," he explained.

Also corroborating the champion, a renowned wrestling praise singer, Sogolo, said throwing down an opponent in wrestling contest is an act of God. The old singer, who says he spent 63 years praising wrestlers, described Maidabba's victory at the tournament last year, as the most surprising winning he has ever seen in his career.

New innovations were introduced into the tournament this year, according Malam Barka. "We have introduced lightweight contest of youths between the ages of 16 and 17, which is 65kg category," he stated, while he also added that "the lightweights will be prepared after a selection process to represent Niger at international levels."

Malam Barka revealed that the country has already introduced local wrestling into the curricula of its secondary and tertiary institutions, a move he said that will remove the negative feeling towards the game in the hearts of the nation's future leaders. "We don't want to forget our culture, that is why we are training the youths now, so that this wrestling tradition can be transmitted to our future generation," he said.

"If they can speak French anywhere they go, they should also be able to show their indigenous traits," the wrestling Technical Director stated.

According to him, traditional wrestling is the only sport that has the power of convening women, children and the old in Niger Republic, saying "it will be difficult to see an old man at a stadium watching western games, but for wrestling, there you can find everybody including traditional rulers."

The official also informed Daily Trust that periodic reviews of the wrestling rules and regulations are conducted every two years, where he said ministers, state governors, national and state representatives, veteran wrestlers and other stakeholders meet to look at grey areas, and address laws that are incongruent to the progress of the game.

But one factor which Nigeriens say plays an important role in sustaining their wrestling culture, is the support it gets from Nigeria. "For close to three years, our fathers and elders in Nigeria, especially from Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kano, come to attend the finals, and they dish out cash donations and car gifts to our wrestlers, and this helps strengthen the championship."

No venue has been announced yet as host for the contest next year. But anywhere the hosting right falls, Nigeriens - their leaders, children, women and men and even their friends - will throw their weight behind a tradition that has survived even a coup.