Jimoh Babatunde
2 January 2009
When the idea of an annual Christmas festival was been muted by the then first lady of Cross River State, Onari Duke, in 2000, as part of the delegation of the National Tour Operators of Nigeria (NATOP) under the leadership of Mrs. Fatima Garbati that went to Calabar to discuss how the event could be used to generate tourists traffic to the city, I had a little reservation.
But, when the Calabar Carnival formally started in the Millennium year 2000 and was initially listed as one of the events to mark the Cross River State Annual Christmas Festival, I started having some hope that indeed with tenacity of purpose, Cross River State could become the number one tourism destination in Nigeria with the festival.
The Carnival Parade as it is today, is a direct result of progression of ideas and the gradual awareness that came with it. The truck floats had Band members on them gyrating through the city streets of Calabar. The years that followed saw Band members now adopting the drumming and singing style of the African in the Diaspora that was consistent with our village square band play form.Mrs.
Onari Duke, wife of the former State Governor decided to introduce costumed characters in the 2004 edition to give it depth and colour for variety and progression. This was highly successful especially the blend of these costumed characters and the Landmark models on the float.
This experience was to gain momentum with His Excellency, the Ex-Governor leading a twenty man team from the State to the Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago to play in the carnival of 2005 in the Safari Band. Their contributions were to be rewarded with this band coming tops as band of the year 2005.
The City of Calabar has been blessed with wonderful resources. Such as a Natured multi-ethnic people, warm and pleasant an abundance of culture, Such qualities, would normally contribute to making the city of Calabar an attractive and leading destination for international tourists. There is no doubt that with effective international promotion and marketing of carnival,
this event would provide a vehicle for increasing, dramatically; the number of visitors to the city.
Notably, carnival in the city of Calabar takes place at a time when the principal tourist-producing countries are looking for new destinations.
The people from surrounding cities are also looking forward to visit cities where carnival is held.
It was not surprising that the city was agog during the last Christmas celebration for over thirty two days as local and international tourists were drawn to the state to experience fun, laughter and color as the beauty of the people culture and values were on display.
Cross River State is one of the most beautiful places in the world, it is a place one will find the most beautiful experiences as it prides itself with the most spirited event, a month long, non-stop festival that has been ingeniously orchestrated to make tourists lose themselves and bringing out the best in them.
So, it was another time to unwind and experience the best the carnival calabar can offer weekend as over 50,000 tourists and fun lovers on Saturday stormed Calabar, the Cross River capital, for the annual Christmas carnival, described as "the biggest street party in Africa."
Many of the tourists, including Nigerians from other parts of the country and in the Diaspora, Africans and foreigners, were dressed in colourful costumes and exuded excitement throughout the event.
The carnival train, which had participants drawn from renowned carnival destinations across the world, engaged in a 12_km street party that took them around the major streets of Calabar.
The train kicked off from the U.J. Esuene Sports Stadium through Mary Slessor Avenue, Ndidem Iso road, MCC road, the Murtala Muhammed Highway and back to the stadium.
The five traditional bands which participated in the carnival train are Bayside Band, Master Blaster, the Seagulls, Freedom and Passion 4 bands, while the Police, Civil Defence, Prisons Navy and Army bands added colour to the carnival.The 2008 Calabar carnival has as its theme: "Sustaining Earth's Treasure Through Culture". The former governor of Cross River, Mr Donald Duke, and his wife, Onari, former Special Adviser to the president, Sen Florence Ita_Giwa, and the wife of the incumbent governor,
Mrs Obioma Imoke, were some of the personalities who participated in the carnival. Other notable personalities included Nollywood stars of the Aki and Paw-Paw fame and Rita Dominic.
Each of the four bands tried as much as possible to translate the theme of this year's event in their colours, dance, decoration, costumes and floats.Of special interest was the presentation of the Passion 4 band with Mr. Chris Agibe as its
leader, had a big banner "Colours of our Heritage" with its truck divided into three sections Golden Streak of twilight (yesterday) which depicted farming ; Mid Day Scorch (Today) which depicted excess crude oil, hunger , poverty, yahoozee and Silver Rays of Morn which showed the hope for tomorrow as in happy people, eco-friendly environment among others.
The former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke caused a stir at the Calabar Carnival when he stormed the road show with his motorised tricycle. Duke, who was attired in an oil blue regalia, cruised into the lead of the road procession of his Bayside Band.
As the crowds cheered and pushed, the former governor sped off to the admiration of tourists. Photographers fell over one another to get a shot of the former governor, who was alone in the tricycle.It was the same experience when he appeared at the stadium later at night as those present tried to catch a glimpse of the ex-governor and his wife who they believed have done a lot for the carnival. "Donald Duke is a phenomenon and a major proponent of this carnival," said Tina Mbong, a resident of Calabar and a carnival participant.
"The history of this carnival is incomplete without a mention of what he and his wife, Onari, did to institutionalise the Calabar Christmas Carnival as a world class tourism event," she said.
After a procession and performances that spanned 12 kilometres within the metropolis and lasted for more than 14 hours, one of the groups, Passion Four, was adjudged the best band, winning the carnival trophy for the third time.
The Band won the maiden edition in 2005 and the second edition in 2006, but lost in 2007, to the Bayside Band, led by former governor Donald Duke.
Presenting the theme, "Colours Of our Heritage," Passion 4 received rousing ovation at the judges' stand, as the crowd hailed their performance and colourful and creative designs.Passion 4 Band has won the 2008 Carnival Calabar parade thereby being the only band to win the competition three times.
Announcing the results, the Adjudicator of the Carnival and Vice Chancellor of the Cross River State University of Technology, Prof. Eka Braide, said the award was for their outstanding performances.
Passion 4 Band, which led by Mr Chris Agibe, a former Commissioner for Finance, came first with a cash reward of N10 million. The Donald Duke_led Bayside Band, which came first last year, took the second position with a cash prize of N5 million while Florence Ita-Giwa led Seagull band settled for N3 million in the third position.
Other bands that participated at the carnival, which drew delegates from nine countries, were the Freedom band led by Capt. Henry Brisibe and the Master Blaster band, led by Chief Gershom Bassey.
In another innovation introduced into the Carnival Calabar in both senior and junior categories, Navy School won the Best King in the non band category while the non-band Queen in that group was won by a Ma Ekeng School.
The Band King Junior was won by Freedom Band with 67.7 points while Bayside Band and Seagull
Band were second and third with 66.3 points and 64.8 points respectively and the Junior Queen was won by Freedom Band while Seagull Band and Passion Four Band were second and third respectively.
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