Cross River State governor Ben Ayade has formally flagged off 2022 Carnival Calabar, where many individuals came from far and near to participate in the cultural fiesta.
At the ceremony at the Eleven Eleven Roundabout, close to the Calabar Cenotaph, Ayade was accompanied by Zahra, President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter.
Ayade who explained the carnival theme: “Agro-industrialisation” stated that time has come when the continent of Africa needs to put an end to the primitive way of processing agricultural products.
“Why do you grow cassava, take a tuber of it and process it into garri and make one thousand naira and somebody else takes it, processed it into pharmaceutical starch and makes one thousand dollars.
“What Ayade is saying is time has come when Africans should put an end to this primitive way of processing their products. The true value of any agro produce is to take it to its end product,” Ayade said.
The governor called for one-minute silence in honour of those who lost their lives during the Calabar Bikers Tragedy which occurred on Tuesday around Bogobiri community in Calabar metropolis.
