Guardian

WIFE of the Cross River State Governor,  Obioma Liyel-Imoke, will yet again receive another award for her immense contributions to community development. This special award – The Obioma Liyel-Imoke Award for Community Empowerment – will be presented during the Miss Africa USA Pageant at Fillmore, Silver Spring, Maryland United States in June. She will also be one of the Chair Ladies of the occasion.

This was contained in a release made available to the The Guardian, by Enuma Chigbo, a media consultant.

Kate Njeuma, founder Miss Africa USA pageant in a letter addressed to Mrs Imoke’s office, said:  “It will be an honour to have Her Excellency as one of our Chair Ladies. We are very proud of her work in Cross River State and we know that behind every successful man, is a strong and dynamic woman. Our goal is to inspire our young women so that they too can aspire to achieve great success like these people.”

Miss Africa USA Pageant has come to be known as the biggest pageant which celebrates African women in the US. It is one of the most highly anticipated yearly community events. It enables African young women in the US to beam the spotlight on Africa.

According to Njeuma, there will be other women of very high esteem at the event which will include celebrities from Hollywood, White House staff and female African ambassadors.

Sophie Dijeh, the Carnival Calabar Queen is expected to be on Mrs Imoke’s entourage at the event. “It would be very honourable for us to be given the opportunity to host the Carnival Queen as well. We will give her the opportunity to talk about tourism in Cross River State and her position as Queen,” Njeuma added.

The Carnival Calabar Queen Pageant, an initiative of the wife of the Cross River State governor, was launched in December 2007.

The lucky queen doubles as the face of tourism in Cross River State as well as Mothers Against Child Abandonment (MACA), another initiative of the wife of the governor. In her duty as the face of MACA, the queen is a role model to teenagers, preaching abstinence and the dangers of pre- marital sex which leads to unwanted pregnancies and other societal ills.

Imoke’s role in the Silver Spring event could be seen as a strategic partnership for the future where people who share a common passion, combine efforts to forge stronger links. Preliminary talks have begun as to how both parties can exchange ideas.

From very humble beginnings in two different parts of the world – Calabar, Nigeria’s first capital and the Miss Africa USA, an event which started as a small scale pageant in Atlanta, joining forces can only pave the way for a phenomenal future.