Cross River State Governor, Professor\u00a0Ben Ayade last weekend joined
\nparticipants at the maiden African Food festival\u00a0Calabar to commend
\nDangote Industries Ltd for sponsoring the event.<\/p>\n
The Governor represented by his wife, Dr. Linda Ayade who declared the
\nfood festival open lauded the exemplary attitude of Dangote Group in
\nsponsoring events especially the now rested Children\u2019s Carnival.<\/p>\n
With the African Food festival replacing the Children\u2019s Carnival, she said
\nthat Dangote Group stepped in as the pioneer sponsor of the event proving
\nthat the Group is truly committed in partnering all stakeholders for a
\nbetter Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ayade said that the food festival is to bring together different
\ncuisines in Africa as the continent is very rich in tasty cuisines. She
\nadded that through the partnership of the sponsors, cuisines from
\ndifferent nations have been gathered in Calabar and urged all present to
\nsavour the taste of the cuisines available.<\/p>\n
In her welcome, the convener of African Food festival, Calabar, Senator
\nFlorence Ita-Giwa, said the food festival aims to unite all tribes in
\ncontinental Africa through their respective cuisines. She said that the
\nmaiden food festival is to showcase African dishes and culinary skills
\nadding Cross River State is very rich in dishes.<\/p>\n
Giving an insight on how the food festival evolved, she said \u201cIn Calabar
\nwe have our cuisine, you go to Ibo they have their cuisine, you go to
\nYoruba they have their cuisine, in Hausa, they have their cuisine\u201d the
\nidea of having all of these under one roof was sold to Governor Ben Ayade
\nwhom is open to ideas and He bought it and fused it to the Calabar
\nfestival Calendar.<\/p>\n
Ita-Giwa commended Dangote Group for its partnership which enabled the
\nfood festival to become a reality. She said that since the cessation of
\nChildren\u2019s Carnival, Dangote Group stopped participating in Calabar
\nCarnival but with the introduction of Food festival, the Group is back.
\nShe described Dangote Group as a leader in the food industry with
\nsubsidiaries as Dangote Flour, Dangote Sugar, NASCON and Dansa as proven
\nleaders in their respective sectors.<\/p>\n
The Convener also called on industries and investors to take advantage of
\nthe abundance of food and cuisines in Cross River and invest in the state.
\nInvesting in the state according to her will add values and create more
\njobs. Particularly, she called for investors to invest in food processing
\nand preservative plants as the raw materials are readily available.
\nParticipants in the food festival included the Republic of Benin and
\nGhana, Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba, Market Women, Cross River State and she
\npromised the event will get better as the years go.<\/p>\n
Leader of Igbo Women Association, Calabar, Dr. Franca Odigwe described the
\nfood festival as the first of its kind and innovative. She commended the
\nsponsors and Ita-Giwa for conceiving the idea and enabling different
\ntribes to showcase their culinary skills. The Igbo women prepared bitter
\nleaf soup, ugba, ofe oha and other dishes which they gave participants to
\nsample.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Ajoke Oyeleye, President, Yoruba Women Association Calabar said the
\nevent has reawakened interest in traditional dishes and expressed
\nreadiness to participate in the next edition. On display at the Yoruba
\nwomen stand included amala, ewedu,alibo, gbegiri as well as traditional
\ndancers.
\nHajia Fatima Abullahi, leader of the Hausa Women also commended the
\nconcept of African Food festival, saying it has given everyone a sense of
\nparticipation in the Calabar festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cross River State Governor, Professor\u00a0Ben Ayade last weekend joined participants at the maiden African Food festival\u00a0Calabar to commend Dangote Industries Ltd for sponsoring the event. The Governor represented by his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n