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.
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, 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 process.
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