By Jonathan Ugbal; Government House Correspondent
Ahead of the maiden edition of the Miss Africa beauty pageant scheduled for today, Cross River Governor Senator Ben Ayade inspected preparatory works Thursday afternoon at the Calabar International Conference Center to ensure a smooth event.
The pageant which is the idea and wholly sponsored by the Cross River State Government according to organizers aims at producing a ‘true African Queen’ who will campaign for issues concerning climate change after carting away a mouth watering USD50,000 prize money.
Ayade could be heard making comments concerning live broadcast on some National Broadcast outfits and directed his spokesperson, Christian Ita to make necessary arrangements while staff of continental TV giants, Super Sports were setting up for a live broadcast.
The event is billed to kick off with a red carpet by 5PM with Nollywood stars such as Juliet Ibrahim and Uti Nwachukwu selected as Host and celebrity Judge with the selected 30 beauty queens representing 30 African countries including Nigeria each hoping to outshine the other.
However, mixed reactions have continuously trailed the pageant after the prize money was announced about a week ago following the arrival of some of the Queens who spent two nights at the Obudu Mountain Resort and delayed the second dry run for the 2016 Carnival Calabar as the Governor had directed that the trial run will not kick off until they arrive Calabar from Obudu.
But, organizers say the idea behind the pageant which is a precursor to the 32 day Calabar festival which traditionally begins every November 30 is not just continental Africa but global, hence the need to employ international best practices in its organization.
Cost for attending the event is as follows:
Table for 10 – N200, 000
VIP- N10, 000
Regular- N2000
For tickets and reservation, call:
Noel- 08036091299
Orokfestival- +2348033629811
Betty- +234 817 871 3140
