Nigeria's Favorite Contact Sport Features the Rams vs. the Rams
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By WILL CONNORS

Will Connors/The Wall Street Journal

Two rams prepare for a mid-air collision during a fight in Lagos, Nigeria, Africa's largest city.

LAGOS, Nigeria—It was a good day for the Ram Lovers Association of Nigeria one recent Sunday.

The fan favorite, a shaggy golden brown ram named Gobe, won the main event and got his owner a refrigerator and a dousing of gin and soda.

"It's the power of God," said Lalekun Bayewu, Gobe's owner, a 45-year-old machine operator. "Gobe is like my child, I love him so much."


Nigeria holds the 13th edition of the national ram fighting championships. Video courtesy of Reuters.
Despite a few drunken fistfights, and a single errant gunshot, the 13th annual Ram Fighting Championships went off without a hitch. The sizable crowd on hand represented a growing segment of Africa's biggest city: working-class residents with some cash in hand. Mechanics, taxi drivers and factory workers, lifted by a growing economy, have boosted the fortunes of ram fighting. While the rest of Nigeria depends almost wholly on oil, Lagos has a vibrant informal economy that has helped the city post consistent growth rates.

"Things are improving," said the satisfied founder of the Ram Lovers Association, Bashir Agusto.

Ram fighting—which is also popular in Indonesia, China and Algeria—isn't nearly as violent as dog and cock fighting. Little blood is spilled, and the rams don't duel to the death. Fights are usually limited to 50 blows before they are called off, though in the finals the limit is lifted.

Two rams are put in a large dirt ring. There is a judge and there are several referees in Ram Lovers Association T-shirts monitoring the fight. Two rams of the same weight-class are brought to the center of the ring and let go. Then they naturally start butting heads. The bout ends when one ram flees the ring. Sometimes, it's over quickly when it's clear that one ram doesn't want to fight.

On the recent Sunday, few fights went beyond 10 blows, although one lasted 98. Only one ram death has been reported since the tournament began, according to Mr. Agusto, who is also known as the grandfather of ram fighting in Nigeria.

The colliding rams have been a welcome diversion from Nigeria's bickering politicians, fighting between Christians and Muslims and militant attacks on the country's oil infrastructure.

One animal-rights group protested the ram fights briefly but came around when members saw that the regulated fights were better than the unregulated ones going on in the street, Mr. Agusto says.

A Sport for the Hard-Headed
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Will Connors/The Wall Street Journal

Supporters of the ram Gobe, who won the Ram Fighting Championship, celebrated his victory.

More photos and interactive graphics "For rams, it's natural. They like to fight," he says. "I don't like to see blood. I'd probably faint.

While ram fighting has been on the upswing, so has betting. For the animals' owners, the fights can significantly boost their incomes. Owners pay an entry fee of $65 and can win several hundred dollars if their critter wins. Spectators pay a gate fee of 500 naira, around $3. When several dozen young men tried to enter the stadium without paying, a police officer fired a gun in the air to restore order.

Ram owners spend years nurturing their animals, feeding them secret diets heavy on beans and bananas, giving them plenty of exercise (lots of running), and comfortable places to sleep.

Before Sunday's main event, the rams walked slowly onto the National Stadium grounds. They were led by supporters wearing matching shirts and twirling matching umbrellas. Some entrants had their own brass bands.

The announcer read out their names as they entered: Sledgehammer. Peacemaker. Minister. Master. Hercules. One ram, like a baseball player stepping up to bat, had his own entrance music.

Sunday's fan favorite, Gobe, which means "tomorrow" in the northern Nigerian Hausa language, weighed in at 120 kilograms, or 264 pounds, and had the biggest entourage, including a group of children who said they were Gobe's trainers

The Ram Lovers Association spent about $4,000 on the prizes, supported by a few wealthy benefactors and gate fees. Several prizes were put on display: two 100-cc Boxer motorcycles, a handful of 15-inch LG television sets, several electric fans and three refrigerators.

In stands crowded with young men taking sips of local gin and eating beef stew with rice, bets were placed for each fight, ranging from $0.50 to $10. Fights between young men, like the ram fights, broke out periodically.


Captain
The 2008 and 2009 champion ram, Obama of Agege, won its owner, Mr. Agusto, a car in 2008 and a motorcycle last year. But Obama of Agege has retired, so this year the field was open to a new crop of challengers.

One of the first fights, between the rams named Minister and Master, stirred the crowd. "What is going to happen?" the announcer asked the crowd. "Minister, Master. Master, Minister. Ladies and gentleman, who is going to win?"

Minister won after a dozen blows. His owner won a TV set.

In the main event, Gobe versus Captain, the bout was over after four blows, when Captain ran away, defeated.

Mr. Bayewu bought the ram for about $1,000 six years ago. Someone had offered $8,000 for him last year and was turned down. "I could never sell him," Mr. Bayewu says.

Mr. Bayewu says the key to Gobe's success was training: "When I play [soccer], I bring him along. If I do 10 to 20 laps around the pitch before we play, we'll do them together."

Brimming with pride, Mr. Bayewu couldn't resist a bit of trash talk against his opponent's ram, Captain. "Captain is my wife," he said. "It didn't even take five blows to defeat him."

Write to Will Connors at William.Connors@wsj.com

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