Four winners of the 2012 Local Government Area cultural parade have been presented with cash prizes. The first prize of One Million Naira went to the Calabar Municipal council, while three local governments – Ikom, Odukpani and Bakassi tied and were given Three Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand Naira each.
Presenting the prizes, the wife of the Governor, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke remarked that cultural festival is all about beauty, depth and intricacies of our culture in a way that people will appreciate and stressed the need for stakeholders to key into the vision of creating an exceptional cultural service-oriented Cross River State. Mrs. Liyel-Imoke said there are standards to meet and encouraged incoming council chairmen to embrace the cultural policies of their predecessors and improve on past mistakes.
The Governor’s wife who also declared open the 3-day capacity building workshop on Cultural Parade Presentation and Logistics said the aim of the workshop was to make cultural festival purposefully and intentionally planned towards achieving desired goals and commended the state Carnival Commission for organising the training to take carnival to the next level.
Mrs. Liyel-Imoke noted the importance of cultural festival which is capable of making the state a major revenue earner, adding that apart from oil, Cross River State needs to harness other products that will attract wealth, hence the workshop to train people from the grassroot on how to streamline the rich cultural heritage of the state. Speaking, the state Commissioner, Ministry of Local Government, Chief Peter Ojie noted that the efforts of the Carnival Commission to engage the local government councils in the cultural festival and expressed hope that the workshop will address issues hindering organisation of successful cultural festivals in the local government levels.
Chief Ojie emphasized the need to separate the children carnival from cultural festival and reiterated the ministry’s willingness to partner the state Carnival Commission in its quest to promote the culture of Cross River to the outside world.
Earlier, the Chairman of the state Carnival Commission, Mr. Gabe Onah described the state Governor, Senator Liyel-Imoke and his wife, Obioma Imoke as cultural artistic persons who introduced innovations such as the children carnival, adjudication and costumes as well as appreciation to the Carnival Calabar pointing out that the engagement of the local government councils further increased the content of the carnival.
Highpoint was a dance flash by Ikike Ufford and company from Kogi State.
admin
