Asuquo Cletus
The Cross River State Government has inaugurated a 13-man committee to review the Carnival Calabar and Annual Festival concept after 20 years of hosting.
According to the terms of reference, the committee is expected to review the past 20 years to identify the high points and the low points, identify the success factors of the last 20 years, restructure the bands as a creative entity, and explore organic ways of improving the carnival by making it a true cultural expression.
Speaking in a statement issued on Sunday, Nsa Gill the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor disclosed that the committee is also tasked with initiating the establishment of a carnival museum for the preservation of carnival culture, advising on the improvement of regulations and organization to align with world best practices.
He noted that the committee has a mandates of harnessing all marketing opportunities to improve carnival funding, and devising means of placing Carnival Calabar’s presence on the international roadmap.
The statement reads in part “In furtherance of his commitment to improve concepts and policies government,His Excellency the Governor of Cross River State,Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, has approved a 13-man Committee to review and provide a postmortem on Carnival Calabar and the Annual Festival concept after 20 years of hosting. The review is aimed at improving and refreshing the product in line with global trends in tourism product development and repackaging.
“The Committee is composed as follows; High Chief Edem Duke Chairman, other members of the committee include; HE. Barr. Mrs. Onari Duke, Sen. Florence Ita Giwa, Sen. Gershom Bassey, Hon. Chris Agibe, Dr. Lyam Ugot, Hon. Eric Anderson, Sir Gabe Onah, PhD, Barr. Ededem Ani (AG), Pst. Johnnie Akpanke, Amb. Ikechi Ukob, Prof. Esekong Andrew Essien, and Prof. A. Owan-Eno, who will serve as the secretary.”.
The committee according to the statement has two weeks to submit its report to the Governor of Cross River State.
