Fungu Mini is Ijaw Christmas – Owu-Ogbo Vice Captain Says as Tobin House Celebrates Maiden Festival in Finima

The Tobin Konibo-ye-Awanta House of Finima in Bonny Kingdom says Fungu Mini Celebration is a festival akin to Christmas widely celebrated by the Ijaw ethnic nationality to mark the interregnum in fishing activities.

Vice Captain of the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo (Dance Group), Idamina Tobin said this on Sunday, August 17, 2025 during the maiden Fungu Mini festival of the House in Finima, Bonny LGA, Rivers State.

“Today is a special day for our maiden Fungu Mini, the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo. Today, the 23rd day of August we mark our Fungu Mini and our affiliate club, Hart House came from Bonny to mark this special day with us and it all turned out great to the glory of God.”  

“Fungu mini is a special event by the Ijaw marked across the length and breadth of the Ijaw nation.”

“The Christmas that we all know that we do celebrate is a borrowed culture. Fungu is the real special day marked by the Ijaw for celebration. Today is the day for the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo that we are marking and as you can see people came from far and near to mark this special day and we give God all the glory.”

On his part, Vice president of the Bonny Graduates Forum (BGF), Christian Tobin clarified that the festival, which is also called “Ama Miemienye”, is an annual and ancestral celebrated across Ibani and Ijaw land, noting that it is a time when fisherfolks come home to their families to unwind and showcase their catch, informing that it is usually celebrated during the high tide.  

“We are today to do what we call in Ibani Kingdom Ama Miemienye, we also call it Fungu Mini. This is the Christmas of the Ibani people. What we are doing here today is what obtainable in Ibani Kingdom.”

“It’s everywhere in Ibani Kingdom and not only in Ibani, in the entire Ijaw nation. If you go to Kalabari today you will experience it, if you go to Ijaw lands outside Bonny, you will experience it. So, we are doing what our fathers did, that’s what we’re doing.”

“Today is a great day. this is our first time as Tobin House and we are very proud of it. We are proud of it because it is something that is well known in Bonny Kingdom and it is good for us to do it.”

“What we are doing today is known as Fungu Mini. Fungu Mini in Bonny Kingdom is the period when the tide is very high and the water has changed so people that are fishing and people that are in the fishing settlements will now take a break from their fishing activities and now go back to their villages and their towns to relax and meet with their families and acquaintances.”

“So, that is what we are doing now. From the beginning of the month most people have relocated back to their villages and towns this period when the tide is very high.”

“So, they are here to say ‘We are back oh’, ‘We are alive, we are healthy; we caught some fishes for the people that are back home’.”

On her part, a former lawmaker in Rivers State, Ene Tobin expressed delight at witnessing the festival, according praise to God Almighty for the fair weather experienced during the ceremony, saying it is one that elicits joy and excitement among the people.

“Today is Tobin Awanta Wari Fungu Mini. It’s a great festival and a great ceremony to us. We hold it to heart so we came out in our full regalia.”

“We thank God Almighty for the fair weather. We thank everyone that came out for this Fungu Mini of the great Awanta Tobin House. It is a ceremony that is well deserved.”

Earlier, in keeping with age old tradition, the Chairman of the Tobin Konibo-ye-Awanta House, Wariopusenibo Darlington Tobin had presented drinks to the Opu Ogbo Alabo (Captain) of the Hart Chieftaincy House Owu-Ogbo as a way of welcoming him and his dance troupe to felicitate with the House on such an auspicious occasion.

The festival different strata of the House, adults, youths, and even children dance around the community in celebration of the season as well revel in the entertainment riddled with exotic drinks, sumptuous food and thrilling traditional music.

Dignitaries in attendance at the event include the Chief-Elect of the Tobin Konibo-ye-Awanta House; Amasenibo Dagogo Tobin, a former Chairman of Bonny LGA; Omuso Abbey, a former member of the Bonny Legislative Assembly; Kingston Roberts, President of Okwemma Cultural Club; Opu Ogbo Alabo Edmund Fombo, members of the Tobin House Elders Council, and Chairman of Tobin House Ogbobiri Asawo, Bara Tobin, amongst others.