Leadership (Abuja)
Peter Jones Ailuorio
5 January 2009
Organisers of what has been dubbed Africa's biggest street party would be giving themselves a pat on the back as the 2008 edition of Carnival Calabar recorded an unprecedented turn out of both participants and road side onlookers.The promotional messages from the office of Cross River State Tourism Bureau and the state Carnival Commission had estimated about 3 million participants but record of attendance on December 27th when the main carnival got underway went beyond and above the estimate.
Governor Liyel Imoke cut the tape at the state millennium park about 2hours behind schedule to signal the commencement of the party on designated streets of Calabar spannning about 12 kilo meters in total yet fun seekers still had their bargain as the fiesta lasted from morning till midnight.Out of the five competing registered bands in the carnival, Passion 4 Band emerged overall winner for this year making it the third time the Band is lifting the Carnival Cup out of the four editions since inception.
The band went through the various routes from Calabar road, to Mary Slessor, Ndidem Usung Iso road(Mariam road), MCC road and finally link upto Highway for J.U. Esuene Stadium where a grand performance was done. They often stop in each adjudication point to display their dance to the admiration of the general public
The calabar canival band and their leaders include: Bayside Band which is led by the former Gov. Donald Duke, Freedom Band led by Capt. Henry Brisibe, Master Blaster Band, Chief Gershom Bassey, Passion 4, Mr. Chris Agibe and Seagul Band, Senator Florence Ita Giwa. Also, the band theme range from freedom, emancipation to equality, valour and grace.
In all these the cultural content has been heightened to play up trado-originality and above all the cultural African content of a successful colour blend that excite the imagination and propel the spirit.Beside the impressive turnout, the carnival also witnessed participation of more corporate organizations and foreign countries' delegations such as from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and from Cameroun.
Major sponsors such as First Bank Plc, Arik Airlines, Oceanic Bank, Zenith Bank, Bank PHB and a host of others were visible on the carnival train as they either decorated individual trucks or branded the carnival routes with their logos.It was a carnival of colours, splendor and creativity. A participant who travelled down from Rivers State and gave her name as Eno Edet said "this (Calabar) is the best place for Christmas holiday in Nigeria".
The Special Adviser to Governor Imoke on Tourism, Mr. Gab Onah said the annual carnival has continued to attract more participants and tourists therefore opening vista of opportunities to local residents in the state.He noted that all hotels in the state capital were fully booked all through the season and petty traders as well as hawkers had field day making brisk business and unprecedented sales.
Former Governor of the state, Mr. Donald Duke and her wife Onari attracted cheers from the crowd when they arrived to join they Band group, the Bayside Band.The event which was held at T. J.Esuene Stadium attracted tournament functionaries, members of the diplomatic core, National Assembly, tourists from different part of the world, non governmental organisations and corporate organisations.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
