[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Cross river State Government has concluded plan to help over 2 million Cross Riverians in Diaspora to trace their roots back home through the Calabar Diaspora Festival scheduled to hold during the Carnival period.
Speaking at a news conference jointly addressed at the Office of the Special Adviser on Diaspora matters in Calabar, Chief Dr Mathew Okiri said the festival would be a replica of the 1977 Festival of Arts and Culture otherwise known as FESTAC 77, designed to assist Africans in diaspora to reunite with their ancestral roots. Apart from putting issues of Cross River in Diaspora on the front burner, the festival, according to Dr.Okiri, would also provide platform to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Cross River State to the world and also promote tourism potentials of the state.
The Governor’s aide, who commended Governor Benedict Ayade for throwing his weight behind the idea, said the event would host the largest gathering of Cross Riverians in the world, and that it was a thing of joy that many Cross Riverians in Diaspora had already indicated interest in tracing their roots back home.“For the first time, we have been having in Cross River a festival that will bring people in the diaspora together but when the calabar carnival was hatched we believe this would be the biggest cultural event to come out of Africa and so after years of planning, we have been able to come out with this programme this year coming up during the carnival.
“Cross Riverians in Diaspora already has declared ten years as decade to support us, and so within the said decade, Cross River in particular will be putting up one of the biggest gatherings of diaspora all over the world that will gather in Calabar later this year.
“One of the unique events of the festival is the ‘Door of Return’. A lot of people and things were taken out of Africa and Cross River in particular, and so our people in diaspora would be coming back through that door that we are calling the Door of Return, which is the opposite of ‘Point of no Return. Beyond that, we will be showcasing the beauty and culture of Cross River State in particular and Nigeria in general through the festival,” Dr.Okiri said.
Responding to questions on number of people in the diaspora expected to grace the festival, Dr.Okiri said many Cross Riverians in the Diaspora have already indicated interest to be part of it, adding: “We don’t have an accurate database but we are working on 3 million Cross Riverians in the diaspora and a lot of them are already coming.”
Also Speaking, Dr.Okiri said the State Government was delighted to partner with the diaspora body and other promoters of the festival, as the event was in sync with the cardinal objective of the present administration in the State to use tourism, hospitality, entertainment and sport to promote excellence.
He said apart from the fact that the festival was coming at a time the State clock 50 years of its existence, the festival would be utilised to showcase the giant strides of Governor Ayade’s administration in transforming Cross River to the next tourism hub in Africa.
“This festival is going to be utilised to promote the huge efforts that the present administration in Cross River State has been putting into turning Cross River around in terms of infrastructure, in terms of tourism and so many other things and so this forthcoming celebration falls squarely within our government agenda to promote tourism and also to promote investment.
“As you know, we are developing a Sea Port in Calabar among so many other things and so the festival will be a win-win for everybody especially for us in Cross River State,” Okiri said.
Series of activities have been lined up for the festival including Carnival procession, Boat regatta, Fishing competition, Dark era procession, Diaspora dinner, Beauty pageant, Cultural displays, Heritage site visits, Heritage night, Festival market, International music concert and International symposium, among others.