Onah discolsed this during the International Carnival Calabar session held at UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar, Cross River.
He said that the commission received a documentation to that effect recently, adding that this attested to the fact that, the carnival had gained huge momentum and recognition over the years.
“Four weeks ago, we received documentation as carnival Calabar was being listed as number four carnival among carnivals across the world”.
“This is a remarkable success for us because this has translated to the fact that it is the first carnival in the whole of West Africa,” he said.
Onah attributed the successes recorded so far to Gov. Ben Ayade’s contributions to the improvement of the carnival since he emerged as the Governor.
He said Ayade had renewed the carnival’s patent to a registered trade mark.
According to him, the governor also introduced other programmes into the carnival to engage the public like the bikers parade, children carnival and more.
“We appreciate the Governor of the state for impacting positively on the carnival through his brilliant innovative ideas,” he said.
The Chairman of the commission, announced Passion Four and Freedom Band, the joint winners of 2019 Carnival Calabar, as first position, Seagull band 2nd, while Bayside band and Master blaster emerged 3rd and 4th respectively.
He said for the Local Government Areas category, Calabar Municipality Local Government Area came first position, Odukpani Local Government emerged 2nd while Akpabuyo took third.
“For the state category, Anambra state took first position, Lagos State came 2nd while Enugu state took the third position.
“The most creative and authentic band goes to Passion 4, the most improved band of the year goes to Freedom band while Passion 4 gets the most creative and authentic band, likewise the best costume design- and best decorated truck.” (NAN)
