•As Ita Giwa’s troupe gets home lead
The streets of Calabar, Cross River, provided yet another beautiful spectacle as richly-costumed girls led each group, accompanied by music-bearing trucks and acrobatic dancers who thrilled the sea of revellers on holidays.
This was just as masquerades, music and movie celebrities, notable disc-jockeys and exquisite floats offered side attractions.
In what could be described as a bigger and better funfair, this year’s edition of the annual Calabar Carnival delivered on the promises of the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, who shortly after the previous edition in 2015, proposed a repeat of Climate Change as the theme for the next event which eventually took place last yuletide season.
It was the second year running that Ayade was producing the Carnival as the helmsman of the State, and also the second time that his inclusion of international troupes in the show held sway, delivering the theme through the creative ingenuity of colourfully costumed dancers, drummers, acrobats and their likes.
Touted as Africa’s biggest street party, last December’s show received a boost with 13 participating countries as against 10 that took part in the competition in 2015. This was in addition to the Nigerian troupe represented by Seagull Band, which defeated Freedom Band, Bayside Band, Passion4 Band and Master Blasta Band in the local arm of the competition.
The visiting troupes included Vai Vai Samba of Brazil, winner of the competition and Ghana and Rwanda, the first and second runners up respectively.
With elegant, tall and beautiful dancers, the much-anticipated Brazil band was once again daring in skimpy eye-prying costumes, albeit energetic and creative with their samba performance.
Other participating countries were Flamingo of Spain, Drumming Wonders of Burundi, Acrobats from Kenya, South Africa, South Korea, Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, represented by Passion-4, this year’s winner of the Carnival Calabar competition.
The carnival also featured musical performances by top Nigerian artistes including Tubaba, Davido, Kiss Daniel and MC Galaxy.
According to Ayade, it was necessary to repeat the theme of the carnival because more and more countries in the world continue to show concern for the environment, recalling that the World Bank had set aside $100 billion to support Africa’s afforestation and climate change drive, while United Nations (UN) had also set aside $100 billion annually to support climate change in Third World countries.
He added that several side attractions were added to the carnival because his government realised the role that tourism could play in the growth of the state and the country in general.
The Carnival also featured the Bikers’ Parade with over 1000 power bikers drawn from different parts of the world.
In a 12-kilometre ride, the bikers, led by the state governor, performed different stunts to the admiration of the ecstatic crowd who awed at the skills of the extreme riders.
“Carnival Calabar is the melting pot of African hospitality where warmth and ecstatic embrace is the order of the day,” said Ayade.
“This carnival represents the true mentality, unity and harmony of Africa. That, indeed, as we have started today, it is the beginning of a new dawn of unity in African.”
