Calabar — African City of Culture

Continuing my documentation of Africa’s Cities of Culture such as “Jos — African City of Culture,” and “Enugu (Coal City) — African City of Culture,” let me introduce you to my final instalment (i.e., for 2024) of Nigerian Cities coverage.

A recent BBC News article reads “Nigeria’s Calabar Carnival: Shimmying and shaking at ‘Africa’s biggest party’” reads as follows:

“A month of celebrations in December draws many partygoers to Calabar, the capital of Cross River state and home to many Christian communities. The organisers say up to two million people attend, the AFP news agency reports.”

I’ll take the matter a bit further…

The capital of Cross River State, Calabar is a port city in southern Nigeria, near the Cameroon border. The City sits on a hill near the Calabar River and the Cross River delta.

“British colonial architecture fills the city’s older sections, including Henshaw Town, Duke Town and the waterfront area. Dating from the 19th century, Duke Town Cathedral is one of Nigeria’s oldest churches.”

The Cross River, after which the state is named, rises from the Cameroon Mountains and flows southward, forming much of the state’s western border; it is an important commercial artery in the rainy season. The state is bounded by the states of Benue on the north, Ebonyi on the west, and Akwa Ibom on the southwest. It is bordered on the east by the Cameroon republic and fronts the Bight of Biafra on the south.

Talking about “sitting on a hill” — next stop, somewhere in the “land of a thousand hills”… Watch the space for a 2025 first feature…

Originally published at https://www.bbc.co.uk on December 29, 2024.