2022 Calabar Carnival kicks off after two years COVID-19 induced break

From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

Preparations for the 2022 edition of the Calabar Carnival have formally kicked off with the first dry run.

The carnival had suffered a two years hiatus following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the suspension of the carnival.

The state governor, Professor Ben Ayade formally flagged off the first dry run and this excercise formally marks the return of the carnival.

This year’s Carnival has “Agro-Industrialization” as the theme seven bands will participate in it.

Flagging of the event, Ayade said that the theme of the carnival was carefully chosen with a view to sending a message to the global community that Africans can depend on themselves for food.

He decried the high dependence for food by African countries on western nations in-spite of the vast arable land God has blessed the continent with, saying “Agro-Industrialization was indeed the way to go.

“Today, we have great reasons to celebrate because Cross River is gathered yet again, to invent the charm that characterizes creativity. 

“The theme for this year is agro-industrialization and indeed, agro-industrialization is the way to go.

“For any nation that is committed and serious, that is the way to go. The greatest insecurity is hunger. There is no insecurity more threatening to man than the insecurity of hunger.

“The war between Ukraine and Russia led to scarcity of grains, this means that by the unset of 2023, the nation will be in big trouble.

“Therefore, I see a harbinger of scarcity, hunger and pain, grinding people to their zenith in terms of criminality and animalism,” he said.

He used to occasion to reiterate his support and commitment towards the return of power to the southern senatorial district of the state in 2023.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of Calabar Carnival Commission, Mr Austin Cobham, described the dry run as the mother of all dry run due the additional bands in the carnival.