Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, has said the yearly Carnival Calabar held to showcase the rich diversity of the cultural heritage inherent in the state has positioned it as a premier tourist destination in Nigeria and in West Africa.
Speaking at the unveiling of the 2024 Carnival Calabar and Festival Theme, “Shared Prosperity”, in Akwa Ibom, the governors said throughout the history of the Carnival Calabar and Festival, the various themes of the previous years’ event encapsulate the history, values and aspirations of the people. “These are therefore the defining elements of who we are, what happened to us as a people and our beliefs that we cherish”.
He said the products of the yearly Carnival activities are therefore considered as tangible assets for public validation of the State as a prime tourism destination in Nigeria and West African sub-region.
He said: “We therefore have no option than to make the event get bigger and bolder in every passing year. For us as a people, we will use our abundant tourism potentials as a tool to build socio-cultural networks, propagate the values of sustainable environmental resource management, while entrenching the economic content of the event.
“The yearly invitation extended to the various States of the Federation and the international community inviting them to showcase their diverse cultural endowments in traditional music and dance, native to their respective customs, help in cementing cultural exchange and development across political divide. In showcasing our natural ecotourism endowments such as the mangrove forest, the dense rainforest, the savannah grassland, the undulating mountains and hills, we are indirectly propagating the essence of sustainable environmental management”.
