Calabar cultural festival
Nigeria’s Top Cultural Festival Billed to Address Migration
The current ugly tide about illegal migration from African countries may have influenced the theme for this year’s Calabar International Cultural Festival.
More than 25 countries from across the globe are expected to participate in the 2017 Calabar cultural carnival.
Special Assistant on Event Management to Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, Mr. Kenneth Aklah said arrangement had been made to bring in famous music stars and other local performing artists to participate in the cutural event.
He hinted that award-winning pop star, David Adeleke (Davido), Timaya, Makafizolo among others are warming up for the biggest fiesta in Africa street party. Others include Patoranking, 2face Idiabia, Flavor, billed to perform alongside some International artists at the annual International Calabar cultural festival.
This year’s event tagged, Black Music Festival will kick-off from December 26 through the new year at Calabar, the Cross Rivers State capital.
Aklah said the event together with others will be broadcast live for about three days, adding that about 670,000 crowd are expected this year’s event, we which is organized annually by the government of Cross Rivers State.
Following gory updates on slavery of African migrants en-route Libya to Europe in the Northern African country, the 15-member council of the United Nations have unanimously adopted a formal statement calling on Libyan authorities to investigate the reports of migrants being sold and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Libya’s government had last month said it would take action after a video broadcast by CNN, which appeared to show the auction of African migrants as farmhands for $400, led to protests across Europe and Africa.
“The Security Council expresses grave concern about reports of migrants being sold into slavery in Libya,” the statement said. “[It] condemns such actions as heinous abuses of human rights which may also amount to crimes against humanity.”
Young African men bound for Europe are frequently caught in trafficking networks and sold for labor in Libya, where many migrants are detained, tortured, and even killed, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM).
VoA reports that the IOM said last week that it was working with partners to try to empty the detention centers, condemned as inhumane by rights groups
Hope is that campaign against illegal migration through the cultural event will help stem the tide.