37 contestants storm Calabar for Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant

In what could be lik­ened to a carnival, Calabar, the Cross River State capital was yesterday agog as 37 contestants drawn from the 36 states and Abuja arrived the state for this year’s Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) Pageant.

Shortly after assuming of­fice, the state governor, Pro­fessor Ben Ayade, had signed a Memorandum of Under­standing (MoU) on behalf the state government for a 4-year-hosting right with the pageant organizers, Silverbird.

The event which is slated to take place at the presti­gious five thousand seat ca­pacity Calabar International Convention Centre (CICC), rated as second best in Africa, according to the organizers, promises to be the best of its kind ever hosted by Silverbird Group.

Speaking to newsmen shortly on arrival at the air­port, Manager Entertain­ment, Silverbird Group, Mr. Alozie Uzoukwu said: “We are bringing to the stage an exceptional bond that exists between the Silverbird and Cross River with a view to sustaining a peaceful coexis­tence.”

On the theme of the pag­eant show, Uzoukwu main­tained: “Another unique of­fering in this event is the fact that we are adopting Climate Change as our theme. We are here to preach climate change, that Cross River State and the governor believe in and we can’t wait to see what Calabar has to offer. We will interpret and translate our theme “climate change” dur­ing the event.

“I encourage Nigerians to come, watch climate change being translated on stage,” he added.

Producer of the show, Ms. Juliet Hagarmen noted: “We are molding a queen that will challenge her counterparts at the global arena during the Miss World and Miss Uni­verse Event. So, we are put­ting up a show that will be accepted internationally.”

Special Adviser, Gover­nor’s Office and Event Man­agement, Mr. Ken Akhla disclosed that the state is collaborating with Silverbird Group to package the event to show to the world its in­nate features of hospitality, warmth and receptiveness in Nigeria.

He averred that “Cross Riv­er is known as a tourism state in Nigeria and you should not expect anything less in terms of organization and package, more so as this event is com­ing shortly before our annual Calabar Festival.

According to him, “as a prelude to the famous Carni­val Calabar, this year, our fo­cus is on environmental con­servation, preservation and control with the introduction of Green Carnival Show.”