Calabar Festival

Dangote Group hailed for sponsoring Calabar Carnival

Written by AUSTIN JACOBSON

Friday, 17 December 2010 21:00

Hundreds of children clad in Dangote branded T-shirts on Monday paraded the streets of Calabar, Cross River State capital in the dry run of the 2010 Calabar carnival. Dangote Group is sponsoring the children carnival holding on December 26, as well as the branding of the Governor’s booth. The dry run involved several groups of children of different ages who paraded the four kilometres distance from the Botanical Garden located near the Mary Slessor round about through Barracks Road and terminated at the Esuene Stadium. Different bands that participated in the run include Bayside band, Freedom band, Masta Blasta band, Seagull and Passion 4. Dangote Group also sponsored a showpiece dance drama written by Odia Ofeimun. The dance drama was presented last week at the Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos. The children who were full of excitement needed no prodding to dance and parade to the myriad of music coming from over a dozen open vans loaded with hi-fi sound systems and disc jockeys. It was an exciting sight to see a sea of children adorned in various colours of Dangote-branded T-shirts. The children were grouped, according to age groups and further distinguished by the colour of their T-shirts. Dansa Foods, a subsidiary of Dangote Group established various serving points along the dry run route where the participating kids were served refreshing portions of various products from the company. The children reinvigorated with the drinks danced and marched with new strength to the terminal point at the Esuene Stadium. The coming of the wife of Cross River State Governor, Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke, added more fun and colour as the children were excited at seeing her march along in their midst. She took personal interest in many of the children as she spent time interacting with them as well as their handlers. At the terminal point inside the main bowl of the stadium, the children and their trainers were served generous helpings of Dangote noodles, a product from another subsidiary. Charles Uwa Omoregha, General Manager, Marketing-Tourism Bureau Cross River State reviewing the dry run commended all the sponsors of Calabar Carnival 2010 especially Dangote Group for sponsoring the Children Carnival. He urged other corporate bodies to take a cue from Dangote Group in promoting the nation’s abundant cultural, natural and human resources via sponsorship of projects like Calabar Carnival. Calabar Carnival  tagged “Africa’s Biggest Street Party”, was created as part of the vision of making the Cross River State, the number one tourist destination for Nigerians and tourist all over the world. The carnival which begins every December 1 and lasts till December 31, has boosted the cultural mosaic of Nigerian people while entertaining the millions of spectators within and outside the state, and boosting industry for all stakeholders. The carnival has come a long way. It all started in 2004, when the then state Governor, Mr. Donald Duke evolved a vision of making his state the hub of tourism and hospitality both in Nigeria and Africa. The carnival presents a perfect platform from brand visibility for consumer and market awareness. “According to Mrs. Elenda Osima-Dokubo, Executive Secretary of Cross River State Carnival Commission, “The carnival aims to include more aspects of local heritage and culture and at the same time strengthen the capacity of the locals to participate in an economically beneficial way” The 2010 carnival with the theme, “Our strength and resilience: The bedrock of our future,” has kicked off with the dry runs of the various events scheduled for the main event. Mr. Liyel Imoke, Governor of Cross River State explaining the theme said, “From pre-colonialism through colonialism to the transformation to the current political process, Nigerians as a people could have been divided, but rather we have been strengthened and through resilience have built on those experiences to emerge a stronger nation. “Few nations or groups of people have remained this focused in spite of our diversity, while we have remained unified in our differences. Cross River represents a microcosm of that resilience which is the bedrock for the future of our state.” The theme he further said corresponded with the reflections of the nation as it marks its 50th Anniversary.