BY Anietie Esu
Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Victor Antai said his ministry was working assiduously to give the State a culture and tourism master plan, where all the different cultures and cultural displays in the State would be brought to limelight.
Mr Antai,who stated this during the second edition of his sponsored Ekpo Oro Cultural Competition held at the Government Primary School, Uko Uyukim, Stadium road, Oron, recently, said the move was aimed at making Akwa Ibom a destination in terms of culture.
The Commissioner promised to integrate the Ekpo Oro into the mainstream of cultural groups in the State.
He said, " As part of the integration of the Ekpo Oron into the mainstream of cultural groups in Akwa Ibom State, we are trying to map out the master plan for Akwa Ibom tourism, which of course the Ekpo Oro Competition will also be part of the master plan. So we are trying to see how we can also make Akwa Ibom a destination when it comes to things of culture ".
The Commissioner promised to make the third edition of the competition more colourful since the competition was becoming more exciting as more groups are indicating interest to participate, adding that traditional wrestling (mbok ) and songs (afiakyid) will be introduced into the competition.
" We have already started planning. So what we are going to do is to also look for sponsors that can also provide costumes to different groups that will participate and I promised you the next edition will be bigger than what we have this year", Antai stated.
On what the event means to him, he said, " Well, besides being a Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, right from my youth, I have been involved in the Ekpo cultural play. So, it is part of me.It means so much to me and I don't throw away the culture of my people. I identify with the culture of my people ".
Highpoint of the competition was the presentation of trophy and cash to Urue Offong village cultural troupe who emerged the winner of the competition and cash given to the first runner-up, Ikpe Oro cultural group and the second runner-up, Orukim-Uda cultural troupe, while all the participating villages went home with consolation prizes.
Recall that the maiden edition of the competition in 2015 was participated by seven villages across Oro Nation, while the second edition was competed by 23 villages.
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