Daily Independent (Lagos)
Emeka Alex-Duru, Bassey Inyang
8 January 2009
The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines carnival, simply as "a public festival, usually one that happens at a regular time each year that involves music and dancing in the street, for which people wear colourful cloths."
This definition captures the exactitude of what happened in Calabar, the Cross River State capital on Thursday, December 27, 2008 when thousands of participants adorned in colourful costumes staged a carnival through major streets in the city, covering a distance of over 12 kilometers from and to the U. J. Esuene Stadium. Apart from the organised nature of the annual fiesta, its apparent novelty in the country's socio-economic life stands it out for local and foreign tourists. Carnivals are usually associated with countries in Central and South America, notably Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Bahamas and a host of others. All over the world it has come to a consensus that the carnival represents a major event in the yearly global tourism calendar.
The 2008 Calabar Carnival, tagged Africa's biggest street party by the organisers, the Cross River State Carnival Commission, in a way lived up to the name. It attracted participants beyond the five traditional bands: Freedom Band, Seagull Band, Master Blaster Band, Bayside Band and Passion Four Band. Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army, National Youths Service Corp (NYSC), and one of the sponsors of the carnival, First Bank, was also in the Carnival train which commenced from 10a.m. into the wee hours of the night.
The carnival with the theme Sustaining Earth's Treasure Through Culture captured not just the cultural aspects of the lives of the people, but expressed in concrete form what Africa represents and the determination of the people to preserve and protect the environment for the future generation. So when the bands moved from the U. J. Esuene Stadium through Millennium Park, Calabar Road via Mary Slessor Avenue, Marian Road, MCC Road, Murtala Mohammed Way, and back to the stadium, they simply offered their best to the admiration and applauding cheers of spectators and tourists that had emptied into Calabar to catch a glimpse of the fun. Passion Four won the Best Decorated Float with 24.4 points while Freedom band which scored 19 points won the Band on the move. Seagull band with 21.4 points won Makeup/Costume. Again Passion Four band with 12.1 points won the Best Interpretation of the Carnival Theme while the Best Reflection of Carnival spirit was won by Master Blaster band with 7.4 points. Passion Four band came first with 76 points while Seagull Band and Freedom band with Master Blaster band were second and third with 71 points and 69 points respectively.
The King and Queen competition held on Christmas Day afforded the five bands namely Passion Four band (Green) Bayside band (Blue), Freedom band (Yellow), Master Blaster band (Orange) and Seagull band (Red) displaying in the junior and senior categories while the non-band competition was organised for the junior group. Judgement of the parade was based on each band's ability to interpret the theme of the Carnival which was Preserving Earth's Treasure Through our Cultural Heritage in their colours, dance, decoration, costumes and floats. The first band after the State Steel Band in the parade was Freedom band led by Captain Henry Brisbe with its sub-theme as "Vocational Evolution to Prosperity," with sub titles as Treasures of Sea, Treasures of Life, Treasures of Creation, Treasure of the Land, Treasures of a Nation and Treasures of Prosperity. Freedom band had a population of about one thousand participants. In their yellow costumes, they thrilled the audience among them at least 50,000 tourists. Divided into groups, they staged dances and music of Black African origin: Hip-hop, African hip-hop, Calypso, and Reggae. Next was Seagull band with Senator Florence Ita-Giwa as its leader. It had two floats, one carrying the forest including animals, water and fire and the second carrying a forest with sound made by animals. This band which paraded some of Nigeria's best movie actors like Rita Dominic and Aki and Pawpaw had its sub-theme as The Rain Forest, No Bush Fire, Street on Fire, Hell on Earth, Water and Fire, Hunger on Earth, Restoration of the Rain Forest and Paradise on Earth.
Master Blaster band with Gershom Bassey as its leader had its sub-themes as "Wing of Peace, The Spirit of the Earth, Fruits of the Earth, Seeds of Eden, The Sea World, Birth of Rose, Flowers of the Sun, Fruits of Beauty, Lotus Flower, Precious Stones: Emeralds, Gold Glitter, Black Coal, Rubis and, Silver, Battle of the Planet, Revolution, Deforestation, Forestation and Flames of Fury, Human Confrontation: Polio, Cancer, Malaria and, War, Hope of the Next Generation: Noble Peace, Ghandi, Mandela, Turai Yar'Adua, Lurther King, Mary Slessor, Golden Revelers and Pinnacle Revelers. Master Blaster band members spotted their traditional orange colour with a strong contingent divided into twenty sub-units. Known for their ability to mobilise, the Master Blaster showed clearly that the spirit of the carnival really resided in it. The Band showed tremendous improvement in terms of presentation and even discipline, more than it had done in the previous editions.
Bayside band as usual had Donald Duke, as its leader. Displaying a banner, The Sky is Blue, the Ocean is Blue, We are Bayside Band it had such sub-titles as Splendor of the Earth, Hunting, Bush Burning, Deforestation, Gas Flaring, Rotational Farming, Traditional Tree Planting Methods, Cross River Clean and Green, Please Don't Litter and Men at Peace with Nature's Gifts. The Band's float carried a forest with animals and reptiles. Clad in their traditional aqua-marine colour, the Band led by the former governor of the state, Duke with Onari, his wife, by his side, gyrated through the routes. Duke was indeed one of the major points of attention as his virtually moves made him attracted loud ovation from the obviously appreciative spectators who lined the entire routes of the Carnival. At a point on Marian Road, Duke rode in an open tricycle out of his band and later returned to join the train. That move was the first of the captivating performances exhibited by the former governor which added real colour to the carnival. Also in the Bayside band to add glamour to the event were the Deputy Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) and the Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey.
Passion Four band with Chris Agibe as its leader, had a big banner Colours of our Heritage with its truck divided into three sections frontal Plantation (Yesterday Agro-Culture) middle Refinery, (Today Industrial Culture) back (Tomorrow Eco-Friendly Culture) save the earth. Its procession sub-titles included Husbandry, Mid Day Scorch: Excess Crude, GEO, Info Tech, Yahoozee, Biomass, Wind Energy, Solar Energy, and Happy People. Passion Four band, the eventual winner of the carnival, in their traditional Green Colour made their presentation in line with the theme of the carnival.
Participants from other countries, especially Cameroon, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados were also present to add glamour to the Carnival. One feature that was common among all the bands was the beautiful ones they paraded.
The men and officers of the 13 Amphibious Brigade, Calabar, were at hand as they used the carnival to have fun and extend their frontiers of friendship with members of their host community. They did not only partake in the carnival, but staged a command parade at the U. J. Esuene Stadium, the last of the events after the bands had performed at the stadium. When the results were read out by the panel of judges, it was Passion Four that carried the day and for its effort the band received N10 million. Bayside band placed second and got a cash reward of N5 million while Seagull led by Florence Ita-Giwa placed third and got N3 million as reward for its efforts. Freedom band and Master Blaster placed fourth and fifth respectively and were rewarded with N2 million and N1 million respectively.
For the first time the bands seriously disputed the result which placed Passion Four band ahead of others for a record third time out of the four editions of the Carnival which started in 2005. Indeed the dispute was such that it brought out the seriousness with which the organisers and the participants held the Carnival.
At the post carnival briefing where the winning Bands were presented with their prizes, the Master Blaster band said it would lodge an official protest in writing to the Carnival Commission over the way marks were awarded to the participating Bands by the judges. Ita-Giwa also presented a verbal protest against the final result due to the time and preparations the Seagull put into rehearsals and everything else because they were determined to emerge tops. But Agibe, the leader of the Passion Four band who was magnanimous in victory said they took time to prepare for the carnival, so they had to win. He said all it took was adequate preparation and ability to interpret the theme of the Carnival correctly.
Edgar Zephyrine, the representative of the Minister of Culture and Gender Affairs in the Trinidad and Tobago who commented on the carnival, said all those who participated were winners. Zephyrine, said in a carnival there must always be disputes about the final result, but stressed that the real spirit is in the participation and the audience which he said must be accorded special position because without them the street party would be meaningless. According to him, Trinidad and Tobago has staged the carnival for at least one hundred and sixty-two years, yet in just four years, the Calabar Carnival has grown so big that it is attracting international audience and attention. He promised that his country would provide the technical support to the Calabar Carnival, especially in the aspect of providing training for the judges and other human resources personnel needed for the staging of the carnival. Zephyrines said the Calabar carnival should maintain its unique posture distinct from what is obtained in the Caribbean so as enable the audience view it from its point of uniqueness. He added that no amount of money expended on the carnival was wasted because of its importance to the growth of tourism and the economy in general. He said investing $100 million dollars in the carnival yearly would not be enough given the essence and the trickling down effect of the positive impact of the carnival to every sector of the economy. Although the bands were adjudged based on what they exhibited, some commentators agree that the spirit of the carnival lies not in the competition but in participation with a view to presenting the cultural aspect of tourism potentials of the people in form of costumes, dances, songs, musical instruments, folklore and so on. Some foreign nationals who added colour to the Carnival Commented on their experience and what they perceived of it. Amir Yusef from Israel who spoke to Daily Independent said, "I have been two years in Nigeria but now I am in Calabar. Calabar is a good place to stay. I like the Carnival and it has made me to enjoy Christmas in Africa. I will tell them, that whoever that comes to Africa should visit Calabar." Umar Kadir from Egypt said, "I love the Calabar Carnival and I am very happy for what I saw. I have been in Nigeria for four years. Next year I will like to participate in the carnival. I will tell them back in Egypt that Calabar is a good place and very clean." The organisers of the Calabar Carnival 2008 said it succeeded as planned and attracted new features such as the private sector namely First Bank, Oceanic Bank, Zenith Bank, Bank PHB, Arik Air and a host of others who participated in the event as sponsors. Governor Liyel Imoke's Special Adviser on tourism and chairman of the State Tourism Commission, Mr. Gabriel Onah said the staging of the Calabar Carnival on a yearly basis, as a major tourism product, is a deliberate policy to present the Carnival in its original African form from where it originated. Onah said the 2008 edition of the carnival captured not just the cultural aspects of the lives of the people. Ndoma-Egba told Daily Independent that the Calabar Carnival is becoming bigger. He said the Calabar Carnival is unique and should remain so. Onah said it was most encouraging to see a private firm commit so much, and successfully too, into the development of tourism in the state and the nation at large, stressing that it was an indication of the interest the private sector has shown in the development of the tourism sector of the state. Imoke said the Calabar Carnival has become bigger and bigger, since it was introduced some years ago. He added that the state government will continue to support the Calabar Carnival to ensure that it becomes established as one of the world's most inviting tourism events. He gave kudos to the Carnival Commission and the participants as well as the tourists and local audience for making the 2008 Carnival a grand success.
The governor in an interactive session with journalists hinted of the huge plans by the state to improve on the 2008 edition of the carnival. "We are now at a stage where if anybody says he is not doing the carnival, he is in trouble. So, we will improve on it next time. We think even the VIP stand that we introduced this time, we think by next festival, we will sell tickets. For those who want to be in the VIP stand, you can buy your ticket on the internet and know what services that will be provided to you at the VIP stand. Each year we try and build on the experience. Security wise, if you are going to the stadium, next edition, we are going to have all those metal barriers in front of the VIP so that the crowd doesn't come into it. There are a number of things that we are doing. Each year we have to improve significantly on them," he said.
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