2016 event ends with winners celebrating

Some states contingents that won trophies/plaques in different categories at the 2016 Abuja Carnival have expressed happiness over their victory.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the closing of the event, which held at the Eagle Square on Tuesday that they were happy to be part of the carnival.

The winners stated that in spite of the economic recession, they were able to focus on the carnival and did their best which eventually paid off.

According to them, it is their hope to perform better at the 2017 Abuja carnival.

Dr. Jerry Agbaji, the Acting Permanent Secretary, Kogi State Ministry of Culture and Tourism said he was proud of his state contingent.

According the victory of the state is a demonstration that Kogi indigenes are very hard working.

“I am really proud of my contingent and am proud to be a Kogi state indigene.

“It is very rewarding to see that our participants were very much dedicated to this event and with the aid of creativity and hard work, they were able to clinch a total of 12 awards.

“We have six trophies and we are extremely delighted to have emerged as the overall winners of the competition.

“This goes to show that Kogi State indigenes are hardworking and we believe that hard work actually pays off,” he said.

Onyekachi Ekeleme, the Director, Abia State Council for Arts and Culture, said he was happy that the state contingent was able to win a trophy as a reward for their hard work and participation.

“We emerged first in the category for ‘Best Performance, Cultural Night’ and we are happy and grateful for that.

“We intend on going home and working harder to emerge first in more categories, but for now, we will thank God for this and celebrate our success,” he said.

Payeboye Festus-luko, Dance Director, Bayelsa State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said “we are happy and proud of the nine awards our contingent was able to win’’.

“We intend working harder for the 2017 competition, so that we can emerge winners in more categories, but we are also angered by the fact that our children were not given an award tonight.

“In the children fiesta, Bayelsa state was the only participating state that came with children, yet we were neither not mentioned in the category nor awarded and that is unfair.”

Out of the 22 states which participated in the carnival, Abia, Kogi, Katsina, Ogun, Gombe, Imo, Bauchi, Nassarawa and Bayelsa won first position in most of the categories.

Kogi emerged the overall winner, followed by Bayelsa.