As preparations intensify for the 2025 edition of Carnival Calabar, Africa’s biggest street party and one of the top five carnivals globally, Okhma Global, the official marketing and brand management agency appointed by the Cross-River State Government, convened a high-impact investment workshop for leading corporate organizations.

The event, held at the prestigious Lagos Oriental Hotel, brought together representatives from over 70 top-tier brands spanning banking, FMCG, telecommunications, oil and gas, aviation, hospitality, and entertainment sectors, all seeking strategic partnership and brand visibility opportunities within the globally celebrated festival.

Speaking during the session, Mary Ephraim-Egbas, Managing Director of Okhma, delivered a data-backed, sector-specific pitch showcasing how brands can leverage Carnival Calabar’s expansive footprint, projected to attract nearly two million physical attendees and reach over 200 million viewers across Africa and the diaspora through extensive media coverage and digital streaming.

“It has been a deeply rewarding engagement,” Ephraim-Egbas stated. “Over the years, we’ve received numerous inquiries from organizations seeking to understand how best to participate in and benefit from Carnival Calabar. This session provided the platform to not only answer those questions but also correct misconceptions about the carnival’s strategic value to brands.”

She emphasized that the 20th edition of Carnival Calabar, set to run throughout December 2025, will be a milestone celebration. Under the leadership of Governor Prince Bassey Edet Otu, the carnival has undergone a major revitalization, receiving unprecedented executive support to restore its stature as a premier destination for culture, tourism, and brand engagement.

“Governor Otu’s commitment has repositioned the carnival for growth, innovation, and renewed global interest,” she added. “The level of interest we’ve seen at this workshop from both legacy and first-time brands is proof that the market recognizes this renewed potential.”

The interactive session concluded with brand executives expressing their excitement about the carnival’s evolution and sharing expectations around programming, innovation, and activation opportunities. Many participants also filled out formal expressions of interest, signaling their readiness to engage further with Okhma and the Cross River State Government on customized brand activations for December.

The Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, on Monday, warmly received Imo-born American basketball player and ESPN host, Chiney Ogwumike, who visited the State to launch her foundation dedicated to empowering the girl-child through sports.

On behalf of the Governor, the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency Lady Chinyere Ihuoma Ekomaru, PhD, warmly welcomed the American superstar to the State, describing her as a shining example of the excellence of Imo women in sports and other sectors.

She reiterated the State Government’s commitment to talent hunt and sports development, recalling how the Governor recently hosted the triumphant Super Falcons of Imo state extraction and rewarded them handsomely for their commendable roles in the successful outing of the Super Falcons at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.

The Deputy Governor commended Ms. Ogwumike for her vision to inspire and support young girls in the state, pursuing their dreams through basketball and other sports. She noted that her remarkable gesture aligns with Governor Uzodimma’s broader vision of creating opportunities for youths across Imo State. She assured her of the government’s readiness to partner with well-meaning Imolites and Nigerians to bring positive development to the State.

Chiney Ogwumike is not only a celebrated WNBA athlete but also a global trailblazer whose achievements resonate deeply. In 2020, she became the first Black woman and the first WNBA player to host a national radio show for ESPN, and one of the youngest commentators ever named as an NBA analyst.

By 2016, she was elected vice-president of the WNBA Players Association, and in October 2023, she made history again as the youngest woman on the White House’s inaugural Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States. Recognized globally, she is a 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree and an Executive Producer of the ESPN Films documentary 144, which chronicled the 2020 WNBA season.

In her address, Ms. Ogwumike expressed her commitment to helping young girls in Imo pursue their career in sports, especially, basketball. She credited her Igbo heritage for instilling in her the resilience and drive that propelled her to global success, pledging to use her platform to inspire the next generation of talents.

Also speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Sports Development, Hon. Obinna Onyeocha and the Commissioner for Youths and Talent Hunt, Hon. Emeka Ukaegbu, praised Ms. Ogwumike for being a true ambassador of Imo State. They pledged that the Government would support her foundation in achieving its objectives.

Also present at the event were her father, Nze Peter Ogwumike, senior government officials, and stakeholders in sports and youth development.

Call them President Bola Tinubu’s kids; then Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s children. You won’t be wrong.

For in reality, that sums up the story of five young Deltans who left Nigeria as national champions to compete in Qatar and returned to the country as global champions.

They brought honour and fame to Nigeria, to Delta state and to their respective schools and families.

Take a bow:  Wisdom Chukwuma of Government College, Ughelli; Otorvo Uyoyou of Alegbo Secondary School, Effurun; Abraham Honour of Okpaka Secondary School, Okpaka; Ekhamateh Splendour of Government Model Secondary School, Asaba; and Alika Daniel of Utagba-Ogbe Grammar School, Kwale. They are all students of public schools in Delta.

Ahead of their stellar performance in Qatar, they had emerged champions at the 2025 President’s National Basic Education Debate Championship, which earned them the ticket to represent Nigeria at the World Schools Debate Championship in Doha, Qatar.

To emerge champions in the national President’s schools debate, they out-performed other young debaters from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. They showed oratory, lexical elegance, critical thinking, linguistic sophistry, stage craft, teamwork and typical Delta spirit of self-confidence and charisma.

The Delta quintet showed no butterflies. They were assertive and compelling in their arguments, persuasive with a splash of eloquence. They were not fazed by the audience.

They possessed every stage of the national competition, wowing the audience with raw intelligence, logicality and an uncanny ability to verbalise their thoughts at the speed of light.

Besides, they evinced a firm grasp of contemporary issues in a manner that truly set them apart from their competitors.

The Delta-Five simply owned the national debate championship. They made it their show with a dash of distinction. That was the badge of honour they took to the 2025 World Basic Schools Debate Championship held in Doha, Qatar.

And they excelled against competition from United States of America and host nation, Qatar, debating on climate change, youth empowerment and responsible technology use.

It was a triumph of ‘the spirit of Delta’ and a testament to the strategic investment in education by Oborevwori; an investment that spans teachers recruitment, capacity building, infrastructure addition and upgrade, welfare of education personnel across the value chain, all of which have created the conducive ergonomics for experiential learning.

One common feature in Delta public education is funding. Oborevwori, himself a product of public-school system, believes that with the right tools, upskilled personnel, and good funding, Nigeria public schools can rival any in the world.

He was the first governor to pay the 2025 counterpart funding for UBEC-SUBEB projects. His unrelenting push for quality academic and technical education has manifested in more school enrolments, improved performance in external examinations and enhanced technical competencies among youths in the state. It is a template worthy of national implementation.

A strong advocate of performance-based reward, the governor gifted each of the five students and their handlers with a goodly N20 million. Oborevwori is an ideal intentional leader whose predilection to welfare has been legendary all through his public life.

He believes that governments at all levels must be people-centric. It was the same spirit of people-centred leadership that made him launch the Widows Welfare Scheme, which seeks to empower 10,000 widows through direct financial aid and access to free healthcare as well as the release of N10 billion to clear outstanding pension arrears owed to retirees in the state.

This bucks the trend whereby retirees wait on end before receiving their deserved entitlements. Nigeria has had a poor sense of welfare for pensioners with hundreds dropping dead while waiting to be paid or while protesting non-payment of their pensions and gratuities.

In a particular south-west state in 2015, 236 pensioners reportedly died in seven months as a result of the inability of the state government to pay their pension and gratuity, according to a Radio Nigeria report at that time.

Even at the federal level, the issue of delayed payment and in some cases non-payment of pension has caused strains and deaths of retires in a manner that is not only shameful but affronts the fundamental rights of the retirees.

There has been a toxic pattern of owing retirees across the country. But not so with Oborevwori. He believes that while governance focuses on building infrastructure across all spectrum of endeavour, the human element in society must never be neglected.

He sees this as a duty, an undeniable obligation to humanity. And he has kept his word. So far, a total of N36.4 billion had been paid in pensions, and N1.4 billion is being released for payment of pensions monthly since he assumed office.

“Our retirees are men and women who gave their best years in service to the state. It is only just that they receive what is duly owed to them, and under my watch, their welfare will remain top priority,” he said recently during a meeting with the state’s Pension Board.

Leadership in emerging economies like Nigeria must be deliberate in visioning, and purposeful in implementation.

This was the model of Lee Kuan Yew, the architect of modern Singapore. He was devoted to quality education of Singaporeans and the enthronement of merit over sundry mundane considerations.

He enforced the learning of English language making Singaporeans bilingual and becoming globally competitive.

This deliberateness in leadership led to the emergence of Singapore from the ruins of war into a frontline global economy.

Indeed, success is neither an accident nor a happenstance. It comes from a premeditated visioning of a desired destination and calculated implementation of the critical processes that will lead to that destination.

Oborevwori from the outset promised to deliver a MORE agenda of Meaningful Development, Opportunities for All, Realistic Reforms, and Enhanced Peace and Security.

The rash of reforms he has wrought in the education sector alone underscores the competitive edge of Delta students both locally and globally.

It is a rebirth of the good old days when Delta, even as a component of the defunct Bendel state, was the exemplar for youth development, academic and sporting excellence in the country.

From law, medicine and engineering to liberal arts and social sciences, Delta colleges and universities have continued to excel in major competitions thus cementing the state’s position not only as a benchmark in education but also a model in youth development and upskilling for global competitiveness.

This is not a by-product of ad hoc and episodic leadership. Such landmarks are achieved with conscious leadership, the type epitomised by Oborevwori.

The fact that the fantastic Delta-Five are all students of public schools in the state speaks volumes of the governor’s determination to make Delta education sector the archetypal 21^st century standard in the country.

·       Umukoro, a public policy analyst, writes from Warri