30 African beauty queens from different countries arrive Calabar for Miss Africa (Photos)

A group of beauties from 30 African countries yesterday arrived Calabar Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar to participate in the maiden edition of Miss African Beauty Pageant. With "Climate Change" as the theme, the pageant is being organized by the Cross River State Government to draw global attention to issues of climate change and sundry related environmental issues.

Addressing newsmen shortly on arrival from Morocco, the state Governor, Professor Ben Ayade who was also arriving from the just concluded United Nations conference of parties COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco, noted that the pageant is a new addition to the state’s vast tourism offerings.

According to the governor, "The pageant is a warm embrace to Africa and more importantly, to create a platform to discuss the fate of Africans."

Ayade further maintained that “the Miss Africa Beauty Pageant is a platform for the expression of intellectuality, capacity, unity, strength, vitality and the energy Africa represents.”

The governor also disclosed that the showpiece was to create an avenue “to celebrate the great splendor and beauty that God has given to Africa in terms of beauty, resilient in character and natural resources,” adding that “God has over-endowed Africa and for that, we have been a bit over indulged. So, this is a wake-up call for us to begin to galvanize and maximally harness these great potentials for the benefit and wellbeing of our people.”