CALABAR CARNIVAL: - GAIN OR DRAIN

To say the Calabar carnival is the life blood of Cross Rivers State is putting it mildly. I am looking at the Calabar carnival as it is the most successful in the country and has undergone several changes since it’s inception.

The economic downturn in the country has raised calls for diversification of the economy from the Oil and gas sector. The shrinking dollar inflow makes it necessary for the government to shine its spotlight on alternative revenue generation activities.

Tourism is a very easy way to earn foreign exchange and a quick fix in creation of thousands of jobs. It also boosts services ranging from travel, accommodation, catering, local arts and crafts, infrastructure development, increased income for the locals, improved leisure facilities, revival of urban spaces, conservation of local history and cultural heritage.

The Calabar carnival got its inspiration from the worlds biggest, over the top carnival, Rio de Janeiro also known as “CARNAVAL”, which annually attracts a million visitors and generates a whooping $3.2 billion in tourism revenues in 2012, and contributed a 7% growth in the economy.

CARNAVAL provides an opportunity annually for the poor slum dwellers in the “FAVELAS” to forget their economic plight and shine during the event, as they become the highlight of the carnival.

Rio has 13 Samba schools set up to keep the dancers attuned to the spirit of carnival, all year round. The word samba was coined by the African slaves, whose descendants are the ones who populate the samba schools and carry on the traditions and culture of their ancestors

The samba schools spend roughly $3 to $4million yearly to put up their shows, they also get annual subventions from Petrobras, the Brazilian National Oil Company, equivalent to the NNPC

They create an outlet for local kids to express their creative skills.

The media coverage provided by this event in Cross Rivers State shines the spotlight on the vibrancy of the city and its people, and avails the locals the opportunity to dazzle nationally and internationally and encourages tourism.

The Calabar 2015 carnival came to a close only a few weeks ago, from the origins of this event, it has been heavily subsidized by the State Government, Cultural festivals all over the world are big business, if the State must transform the carnival, it needs to open it up to public private partnership.

There is a need for strategic thinking to evaluate the economic benefits of hosting the event in the State in terms of the value of returns on every naira spent.

It is time to wean the carnival off Government subsidies and make it self sustaining. The fallouts of the annual event should be massive infrastructure development of facilities for public benefit.

The State should partner with the Federal Government to ensure that the Calabar airport becomes a functional International airport interms of upgrading the facilities and provision of necessary facilities to enable international airlines set up shop and commence daily flights.

 It is important to transform the Carnival from just an event of a few weeks to a biannual event to highlight and showcase the rich cultural heritage of the people. Presently as constituted there is an impression that the carnival is a weeklong event for party goes and revelers.

This impression can be reversed if the carnival is organized biennially and a family friendly themed event is organized separate from the Christmas event, which would highlight appropriate dressing and children’s parades tailored to provide wholesome entertainment for the family This would bring a whole different demographic of children and women  to the carnival.

Inclusion of the locals as volunteers is very important, pensioners can be drafted to serve as “meet and greet” officials during the event as they are custodians of the culture and tradition and can serve as tour guides and educate visitors about the city.

Merchandising is an often overlooked component of the carnival, which can rake in huge tourist dollars annually. One expects that the government   will partner with the private sector to encourage retail businesses who specialize in manufacturing of souvenirs like T-shirts, face caps, key rings, mugs and other tourist kitsch, whilst retaining intellectual rights.

It is also important to incorporate Nigerian designers to work with the different bands to showcase local artistry by using local fabrics like Adire Ankara, Aso- Oke, this will lead to increased production and sales of these fabrics thereby generating increased revenue and employment.

Competitions can be introduced amongst the designers to determine who the voting public decides produced the best costumes, this will inevitably lead to the discovery of young talented designers.

 The event should showcase indigenous music as the parade theme songs encouraging Nigerian musicians to produce theme songs for the different bands in different local dialects to promote indigenous languages, this will result in the resurgence of local languages.

Finalists of Beauty pageants can be incorporated into the event to serve as role models for the different bands, promoting the message of the event, long after the carnival is over as well as helping in fundraising drives for the bands.

Reality shows can be organized and cameras follow these contestants to provide insight into all the preparation and behind the scene efforts that lead up to the actual event.

Sales of television rights and franchises are capable of providing massive cash wind falls for the carnival. Increased taxation of businesses is a critical aspect for the Government to recoup its expenses in subsiding the event.

Commercial outlets should be levied to improve the capacity of the municipal authorities to provide the services such a security and waste management. The Cross River State Government needs to set a target for itself at the end of each carnival season, to plough back the gains of the event into upgrading and building new public infrastructure so the people can see major deliverables from each season. By now there ought to be a light rail network linking the city centre to the outlying districts so visitors can easily explore the various sectors of the city.

The Federal highway linking Uyo to Calabar should be fixed to enable ease of movement between the two capitals, as some tourists might spill into the outlying cites and towns.

Tourist attractions such as theme parks and a carnival museum should be established to make the experience of the event a multifaceted one, thereby transforming it from a single event to a sustainable industry.

The carnival boosts massive recruitment of artisans, such as tailors, carpenters, shoe makers, artists. The tertiary institutions or technical schools need to setup diploma programmes to sharpen the skills of these semi skilled labor force.

The Government needs to commission studies to evacuate the direct and indirect impacts of the carnival on the economy as well as providing data for planners. The State needs to use the event to market itself nationally and internationally as a tourist and business friendly location for meetings and conventions.

For the State to get the utmost benefit from this event its needs to privatize it and open all aspects of the carnival to new ideas and innovations especially the promotion of the event on the internet.