Nollywood stars to own Calabar carnival band

 

It’s time to develop tourism in Africa – Gambian diplomatNigerian movie stars have indi-cated their interest
 in owning a band in the annual Calabar Carnival, as a means of strengthening the existing relationship between private sector and public tourism practitioners during the month-long event.With this development, the carnival will have six registered bands, Bayside, Freedom, Masta Blasta, Passion-4, Seagull and Nollywood. All the .ve old bands were registered in 2005 and incorporated as part of the features to grow the carnival as tourism brand in Calabar.
However, the Seagull band recognises and celebrates Nigerians of different professions, especially artistes, movie stars and beauty queens, with Sen. (Princess) Ita Giwa as its leader.Also, the 2013 edition of the Carnival will take on a more international .avour with more countries such as Brazil, France, Ghana, Rwanda and Egypt indicating that they will be sending bands to the Carnival.



This was revealed at a pre-event press conference that took place at the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort at the weekend.Speaking at the interactive session Governor Liyel Imoke, explained that Calabar Carnival is of tremendous value to Cross River State and Nigeria.“The truth about Nigeria is expressed in Carnival Calabar because it does not discriminate”, the governor explained.Continuing, he said:
“This (Carnival Calabar) is the re.ection of Nigeria, the beauty of Nigeria, its uniqueness in design and presentation and like Nollywood, it can change the image of Nigeria.“There is opportunity for a partnership to grow the Carnival and the private sector especially .nance houses need to understand and invest in the creative industry because of its potentials.”According to him, “The partnership can boost the local economy and promote the Cross River brand”.On the charity content of Carnival
Calabar, Imoke explained that the of.ce of his wife, Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke handles it through an array of activities, adding that a lot comes out of it and would want the media to understand it and project it collectively as a brand.He described Carnival Calabar as a perfect brand because of its value.Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke, wife of the state governor explained that the 32-Day Calabar .esta is preceded by a six kilometer HIV/AIDS International Day walk meant to create awareness as well as kick against stigmatization.
According to her, there is a series of programmes packaged to raise money for abandoned children, and young mothers while the Carnival Calabar Queen serves as tourism ambassador for the young ones and her responsibility includes visiting schools to advice students against pre-marital sex.Mr. Nzan Ogbe, Special Adviser Governor’s Of.ce, said the carnival has over the years become an iconic product, which has attained a global acceptance because people all over the world participate.Ogbe explained that as a variety of activities, it includes charity show, sports, culture, dance, singing and a carnival which is reported to be ‘The Biggest Street Party in Africa’ describing it as the icing on the cake.He promised that this year’s festival would be a bigger one, better and very ful.lling than the previous events with participants from Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Cameroon, Rwanda and some West African Countries.