By Atuekong Paul Bassey
The just concluded Tourism Brand Identity Logo Competition organized by
the State Ministry of Culture and Tourism has risen so many eyebrows,
critics and biased sentiments from Akwa Ibom people.
The freely contested competition was open to every professional graphic designer no matter their State of origin, in a quest to make Akwa Ibom State, the most preferred global brand.
When I read through reactions from people, who questioned why the organizers allowed an 'igbo man' to win N250,000 star prize. what got my attention was seeing a petition portal created by a young lad, Edidiong Ekong, who was part of the competition and expected his 'amazing' Bahamas Logo to win him the Laurel star prize.
The competition had highly respected professionals in Art and graphics as panelists, who cross examined every logo and scores it based on the marking scheme and criteria.
But according to the young lad, the winner's Logo lacks originality and as such it doesn't depict Akwa Ibom State endowed rich culture.
How did we get here? Why the timidity? Where is that resilience spirit of hardwork from our people? Must we criticized when things don't work out in our favor? How long are we going to sacrifice merited awards?
Why invoke our Ancestors Spirit of Petition?
It is time for us to rise above ethnicity and biases.
Rise to chart a new course for us, our children and a generation of Akwa Ibomites unborn
Rise to the faith that one day; we shall be counted as great people of a great state with great minds.
God bless Akwa Ibom State.
No comments: