Gaani Festival unites the Baatonou, Waasangari and Boo in Nikki, Benin, with horsemen, sacred drums and allegiance to the King
Prince Sime, Cultural Mediator for the Royal Court of Nikki, and Akiilou Bio Madougou, Mayor of Nikki, joined the King of Nikki and thousands of visitors in Nikki, northern Benin, on 31 August 2026, as the Gaani Festival brought the Baatonou, Waasangari and Boo peoples together to honour a shared past.
A festive procession filled the streets. Dignitaries in ceremonial dress moved toward the main square.
The gathering is held each August so communities now living in Benin, Togo and Nigeria can mark collective memory and old victories.
Prince Sime said the groups should first be seen as two clans. “There is the Baatonou clan, known as the indigenous Bariba, and the Waasangari clan, a name meaning those who came from elsewhere.”
He told Africanews that the Bariba and Boo belong to the same cultural area and hold administrative power in the kingdom, while the Waasangari hold royal political power.
Each governs in its own way inside a clear sharing of authority. The festival keeps that arrangement visible around the monarchy.
Colonial borders later divided people who once moved across a wider land. “Back then, there were no national borders.
They were united and occupied their territory freely, spanning Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso, and even reaching Ghana,” Sime said. “But the colonisers came and split that unity apart. That is why you see some of the Waasangari in one country and others on the other side.”
The living heart of the celebration remains the horsemen’s parade, the sacred drum ritual and the pledge of allegiance to the King. Those rites have been kept since the festival’s beginnings in the 16th century.
Visitors now come from Benin, Niger, Togo, Nigeria and further afield. Trade and lodging rise with the crowd, giving northern Benin an annual lift.
Mayor Akiilou Bio Madougou said the occasion had put Nikki back on a wider map. “Personally, I take great pride in this. It is a source of pride that this jewel has been created to enhance the prestige of the chieftaincy, the monarchy and the imperial court of Nikki.”
Hausa, Muslim and animist strands now sit side by side in the same week of ceremony. The spectacle is colourful. The meaning is quieter. Families separated by passports still recognise the same drums, the same horses and the same court.
The Gaani Festival does not erase the borders drawn in another century. It offers a yearly answer to them: three peoples, several countries, one square in Nikki, and a history they still choose to keep.
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