American rapper, William Roberts II, better known as Rick Ross, alongside 2baba, and Tekno will perform at the Calabar carnival scheduled for December 26.
Ikobi Ikobi, a commissioner in the Cross River carnival commission in charge of media, disclosed this on Wednesday to NAN.
Ikobi said the carnival, which has the theme, ‘Migration’, had been designed to thrill fun seekers who would visit Calabar with live musical entertainment.
“For now, we have sealed a deal with Rick Ross; He is expected to be in Calabar on Dec. 26 to perform in the carnival,” he said.
“We are still talking with other international artistes that will also perform.
“We have contacted some artistes in Nigeria; the likes of Innocent Idibia popularly known as Tuface, with stage name Tekno, Inyanya and others.
“As we all know, the first dry run of the carnival was held on Oct. 22 and it was a success. I want to assure tourists coming into the city of Calabar that the 2017 carnival will be fantastic.”
In a separate interview, Rosemary Archibong, the state commissioner for information, told NAN that the Calabar carnival was an annual robust event filled with diverse activities.
Archibong said that the theme of the carnival was chosen by Ben Ayade, the state governor, in recognition of the plight of Africans that are forced to migrate out of Africa in search of greener pasture, food and help.
“Most times, we see our people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and in the process, many lives are lost and this informed the choice of the theme,” he said
“It is hoped that this carnival will bring back the thought of our leaders to good leadership in Africa.
“We will have different interpretations of the theme from five competing bands and it is going to be extremely entertaining, thought-provoking and mentally engaging.
“We are also going to have the cultural carnival, and I can assure tourists that the smart city of Calabar is set for the carnival.”
The commissioner said that smart city wireless internet connection (wifi) had been added to the carnival with a view to connecting tourists to free internet use.
“It is going to be the celebration of the biggest street party in Africa.
“When tourists come in for the show, we don’t want them to start looking for where to buy data; all we want them to do is just to get their Wifi on and get connected to the world.
“This 2017 celebration is going to be a time of absolute ecstasy because we will also have the international carnival and more countries have registered to be in Calabar already.”
Archibong assured tourists coming in for the annual event of adequate security, saying that the state government was working in collaboration with security agencies to ensure a peaceful celebration.
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