By Lucy Ezeliora - Lagos
The annual Calabar Festival was flaged off with a colorful lighting of the Christmas tree, touted to be the tallest in Africa,
The event at the Millennium Park attracted the Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel lmoke and his wife as well as dignitaries who were treated to high octane entertainment.
Among those that witnessed the events were, Minister for Tourism, High Chief Edem Duke and his wife as well as Nollywood stars like Kate Henshaw, Rita Dominic, Gideon Okeke, B Ace comedian, I Go Die, ryan Okwara and an Executive Director of First Bank and the former Military Governor of the state, Air Vice Marshal Gregory Agbonemi
The event, which lasted about two hour was accompanied with fireworks and other attractive festive decorative emblems.
According to the governor, the two brands recognized by the world today are Nollywood and the Calabar Carnival noting that, the tree lighting exercise will go down in the record of Nigeria as the ever.
Before then, there were performances by up and coming musicians; discovered during auditions for the 2013 Festival
“We remain that place in Nigeria where every Nigerian would be proud to be, where every Nigerian will say there is one State in Nigeria where you can see the Governor walking about, associating with his people, he is not afraid, he is part of the crowd, and the people are warm, happy and beautiful”, Imoke said.
While urging youth to make use of their talents, Imoke recalled that like music star, Inyanya, many talents will perform during the festival.
On his part, Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Edem Duke, stressed the need for government to galvanize resources and train young artistes in order to use their creative abilities to better their lots.
Edem Duke also urged Cross Riverians to find in each of them their creative talents. “These dancers and drummers can win for us the future, being resources to our families and glory to our state. We must establish a self-believe, believe in yourselves, believe that if you are such a good dancer or drummer, there is a future for you,” he stated.
He hinted that the citing of over N2 billion project for a creative Academy in Ikot Nakanda, Akpabuyo Local Government Area remain a clear testimony of how important government hold the works of creative Arts among youths in the area, pointing out that the project cannot be found elsewhere in the country.
Edem Duke also used the opportunity to announce the offer of 10 scholarships by the government of Trinidad and Tobago for people to learn creative Arts of carnival.
He disclosed that the scholarship would be available from next year, adding that carnival has transformed from a street party into an economy.
Executive Director Public Sector south, First Bank of Nigeria, Mr. UK Eke, lauded Cross River government for its initiative which has also helped in uniting people from several cultures while bringing happiness to Nigerians.
“The Calabar Carnival has grown to be one of the biggest tourist attractions in Nigeria and Africa at large”, Eke said, adding “it has enhanced the economic development of Cross River and our great nation.
He assured that First Bank having established its second branch in Nigeria in Calabar since 1900 will continue to partner with the state to boost social, cultural and economic gains.
The post Colour, panache as Calabar Festival flags off appeared first on Daily Independent Newspapers.