By Ogar Monday
The Cross River State Governor, Sen. Ben Ayade has insisted that the African continent is capable of self-sustenance, and this year’s carnival will portray that.
Ayade, who was speaking at the flag-off of the first dry run for the 2022 Carnival Calabar, added that the theme of the carnival was chosen to send a message to the global community that Africans can depend on themselves for food.
Ayade further revealed that the war in Ukraine has exposed a scarcity that Africa needs to take advantage of.
His words: “Today, we have great reasons to celebrate because Cross River is gathered yet again, to reinvent 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 the scarcity of grains, this means that by the onset 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 animals,” he said.
Earlier speaking, Mr. Austin Cobham, the Executive Secretary of the Calabar Carnival Commission revealed the addition of more bands to the carnival saying that the dry run affords carnival enthusiasts the opportunity of seeing the new bands for the first time.
Cobham added that the theme of this year’s carnival is the world deals with interruptions in the global supply value chain, and that: “The only way that the world would survive has proven to be agro-industrialization.”
The seven competing bands are; Seagull, Passion 4, Masta Blasta, Bayside, Freedom, Diamond, and Calas Vegas.