The team of Imo State Deputy Governor Eze Madumere has won the maiden edition of the state’s carnival.
The carnival took place yesterday at Owerri City School, Owerri, the state capital.
Governor Rochas Okorocha spoke at the event after receiving the result of the parade, which adjudged Madumere’s team the overall best.
The governor said Madumere’s float was best in concept, costume, expression and performance.
He said the team was perfect for its blend of synergy and synchronisation.
Okorocha hailed the participants for putting up a good show, adding that some of the groups could not differentiate between cultural festival and carnival.
The governor urged such teams to return to the drawing board and come back for the next edition.
Madumere’s float had a concept of a village with huts, which signified a call for re-invigoration of the people’s cultural values.
The deputy governor told reporters that the concept of a village scene was in appreciation of the people’s values, which he said he cherished.
He said the Okorocha administration had brought good governance to the people through its Rescue Mission.
Madumere said the government emphasised Agriculture, which he said would ensure food security, tackle unemployment and guarantee foreign exchange.
He said: “Under Owelle Okorocha-led administration, we have come up with plant a palm programmes to break the mono-culture of dependence on the black gold (oil). This is one effort the governor is not joking with. We are serious about it and it has got off the ground. We are even giving awards to the communities that have shown so much zeal and interest through their effort at creating a future in palm trees.”
The deputy governor said carnival was an expression of the people’s innermost feelings and realities in dances, costumes and floats.
He noted that it was a means of passing vital information to the people.
On the success of his team at the carnival, Madumere said it assembled the right people to enable it realise its goal.
He said: “It took the understanding of what we wanted, assembling the right team players, team work and teachable players, who are ready to complement one another.”
The Imo State University Band came second and the Generation Rochas, led by Nollywood star, Nkiru Sylvernus, came third.
The deputy governor’s float won a new Nissan Hummer bus with N2 million cash. The second position got a bus and N1 million cash, while the third got a bus and N500,000.
