From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Cross River State Government has created three new agro-cultural festivals to boost its tourism potentials.
The festivals, including Leboku, are adopted for the central district and Otumobong for the southern district and yet-to-be-named festival for northern zone will come up between August and September 30 every year.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Events Management, Kenneth Akla, speaking with newsmen on activities to mark this year’s Leboku international new yam festival in Yakuur yesterday, said the festivals would ensure peace and unity among the various communities in the state. Akla said the state government regarded agro-cultural festivals as important for peaceful co-existence of various communities across the state, hence it decided to accord it top priority.
Maintaining that the government is committed to ensuring the expansion and upgrading of the festivals to meet international standard and attract more tourists to the state, he said Cross River has one of the richest diverse cultural heritage in Nigeria.