The Wife of the Governor of Cross River State, Her Excellency Dr. Mrs. Linda Ayade has approved the commencement of 2nd Edition of Linda Ayade Literary Art and Afi Ekong Visual Art Competitions. The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor, Hon. Emmanuel Etim made this know while briefing journalists recently.

The SSA said the Wife of the Governor gave a nod to the immediate commence of the second edition after the successful completion of the first edition and award of prize money to the winners recently. The Wife of the Governor added that she was glad about the outcome and the impact the competitions are making.

She congratulated all the winners and urged them to use the prize money judiciously, especially for the growth of their crafts and the creative Industry in general. She said she will continue the competitions as annual events to ensure that Cross River citizens are repositioned to celebrate intellectual capacity, literary prowess and creative competencies.

Hon. Emmanuel Etim further explained that two new competitions have also been unveiled. The first is the Benedict Ayade Music Competition which has two categories, the Afro Hip Hop/Rap category and the Afro Soul/Reggae category. The second is the James Henshaw Film Competition which also has two categories, the short film category and the short documentary category.

Hon. Emmanuel Etim added that for the 2019 edition of the competitions, submissions of entries will be announced in October and the competitions will run through till the end of the year when winners would be announced and prizes presented to the winners. He said more information on modalities, theme of the competitions as well as terms and conditions will be provided soon.

He ended by thanking the Governor His Excellency, Sen. Prof Ben Ayade for his commitment to the growth of the Creative Industry in Cross River State and for the opportunity to serve in his administration and urged all stakeholders in the creative sector to support the government in order to enable it achieve set goals and objectives.