KEY POINTS
- Cross River launches the 2026 Carnival Calabar Essay and Creative Writing Competition.
- The contest targets secondary and tertiary students across the state’s three senatorial districts.
- Six examination centres will be used for the competition.
- Winners and participating schools will receive scholarships, laptops and educational materials.
MAIN STORY
The Cross River State Carnival Commission has introduced the 2026 Carnival Calabar Essay and Creative Writing Competition as part of efforts to strengthen reading, writing and intellectual development among young people in the state.
Chairman of the commission, Sir Gabe Onah, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Monday.
Onah said the competition was designed to use the Carnival Calabar platform for activities beyond entertainment and tourism, particularly in education, youth development and creativity.
He said the initiative would give young Cross Riverians an opportunity to demonstrate their intellectual abilities while encouraging greater interest in reading and creative writing.
The 2026 competition will be held under standardised examination conditions at six centres spread across the state’s three senatorial districts.
The centres are Obudu and Ogoja in the Northern Senatorial District, Ikom and Ugep in the Central Senatorial District, and Akamkpa and Calabar in the Southern Senatorial District.
The competition will have two categories, with Category A for secondary school students and Category B for students of tertiary institutions.
To strengthen the credibility of the assessment, the Department of Theatre and Media Studies at the University of Calabar will independently evaluate the entries after the examination.
The commission said the overall winner in each category would receive a scholarship, while the top three contestants in both categories would receive laptops.
Schools attended by the three leading secondary school contestants would also receive laptops to support digital learning and teaching.
The top 10 secondary schools will additionally receive textbooks, branded exercise books, school bags, pens and mathematical sets.
For the tertiary category, the top five departments represented by winning contestants will receive branded hardcover books to support academic activities.
Onah said the initiative was intended not only to recognise individual talent but also to provide educational resources that could benefit participating institutions.
He added that the programme formed part of efforts to reposition Carnival Calabar as a platform capable of contributing to the intellectual and socio economic development of young people.
The commission urged students and educational institutions across Cross River to participate actively and use the competition to strengthen their knowledge, creativity and writing skills.
THE ISSUES
- The competition provides an avenue for young people to develop reading and writing skills outside the conventional classroom setting.
- Linking the competition to Carnival Calabar broadens the role of the festival beyond tourism and entertainment to education and youth development.
- Independent assessment by the University of Calabar is intended to address concerns around fairness and credibility in the selection of winners.
- The provision of laptops, books and other learning materials means the programme also directs resources towards participating schools and departments rather than limiting the benefits to individual contestants.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“The competition has two categories, with category A open to secondary school students and category B to students of tertiary institutions.” – Gabe Onah, Chairman, Cross River State Carnival Commission
“The centres are Obudu and Ogoja in the Northern Senatorial District; Ikom and Ugep in the Central Senatorial District; and Akamkpa and Calabar in the Southern Senatorial District.” – Gabe Onah, Chairman, Cross River State Carnival Commission
WHAT’S NEXT
Students and educational institutions across Cross River are expected to participate in the 2026 competition across the six designated examination centres.
BOTTOM LINE
The Carnival Calabar essay competition is expanding the festival’s role into education and youth development. The organisers are combining academic competition with scholarships and learning resources for students and their institutions.
