A former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, has commended the efforts of the State Governor, Bassey Edet Otu, for preserving the cultural heritage of the people of Cross River State and Nigeria at large through his support for an exhibition at the National Museum in Calabar.
He gave the commendation over the weekend during his visit to the National Museum for the inspection of the ongoing exhibition tagged “Traces of Time”, which explores artistic expressions dating back from the 16th century to the contemporary era.
The exhibition, mounted by France-based Art Historian, Bose Fagbemi, has been the Cynosure of attention of tourists. The exhibition is in the Old Residency – a historical Icon on its own.
The First Lady of Cross River also built a Christmas Village for the Children, which drew a huge crowd of families to the museum.
The highlight of the visit by the former governor was his speech on the relationship between the Benins and the Efiks, dating back to when the Royal Oba Ovonramwen of Benin was relocated to Calabar in the 19th century by the British.
Duke urged arts enthusiasts to take advantage of the season by visiting the museum and the artists to stage an all-year-round exhibition of this nature
The exhibition has received lots of VIPs, including the Governor, the First Lady and a Justice of the Appeal Court, Justice Inyang, whose grandfather, Judge Inyang, was the first lawyer from South-South Nigeria, with a section of the installations dedicated to him.
The Artistic Counsellor, Bose Fagbemi, thanked Duke for his visit and the pledge to support future exhibitions.
She also thanked the Government of Cross River State for making the 30-day exhibition a success
