Calabar, Nigeria – The Cross River State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Abubakar Ewa, is dead at 61.
Converseer gathered that Ewa died on Wednesday afternoon at around 3 PM in Calabar, the state capital.
According to Ewa’s Aide, Balimwor Ekpe, he died at the Arubah Specialist Hospital following a brief headache.
Ekpe said the Tourism Commissioner was at the Executive Council (Exco) Meeting when the headache started.
“He was complaining of a headache at the Exco meeting. So after the meeting, he went to a pharmacy to get drugs but the headache didn’t subside, so he had to drive to the hospital.
“When we got to Arubah Hospital at Marian and he was placed on oxygen, that was the end. I still can’t believe it.
“As I talk to you now, his body has been deposited in the mortuary,” Ekpe told Converseer on the phone.
At the time of filing this report, family members, Exco members, friends and well wishes are gathered at the hospital mourning the death of the Commissioner.
Before his death, Ewa served as Secretary and later Chairman of the Boki Local Government Council. He also held positions as Special Adviser on Community Relations and Secretary of the Anti-Deforestation Task Force.
He was last seen publicly during the Calavegas victory party held in Calabar to celebrate the band’s consecutive wins in the 2024 Carnival Competitions.
Converseer reports that since his appointment in 2023, Ewa has changed the face of tourism in the state; discovering more tourism sites, adding more festivals to the tourism Calender, introducing Ogoja and Ikom Carnival, and others. In fact, the 2024 Carnival Calabar was adjudged the best under his watch.