Indications have it that the 2014 edition of the annual Calabar International Jazz Festival maybe put to stop by a move to be initiated by the presidency of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN); this is on the hinges of the non-payment of performers at the 2013 edition of Calabar Festival.
Performers at the 2013 Calabar Festival has cried out to the hearing of the press, the situation of their unpaid performance fees by the Cross River State Government 3 months after the state organized Calabar Festival.
Before PMAN intervention, after running out of patience, some of them took to the social media to share their plight with the general public, and the issue has raised dusts, with questions requiring answers from different quarters.
In a letter sent to the Governor of and made available to entertainment journalists, the president of the apex music body Kevin Luciano stated “we write to express our appreciation to the Cross River State Government for the choice of Music in the promotion of tourism activities in State and to express our concern over the plight of members of PMAN Cross River State Chapter who took part at the last edition of the Calabar Festival”.
We are informed that members of the State Chapter who participated at the event are yet to be paid their entitlements several months after the event.
In view of the existing relationship with the National Headquarter of PMAN and the State, we would appreciate your kind cooperation in the resolution of the matter within the shortest possible time’.
Meanwhile, the Calabar International Jazz Festival is slated to hold on April 18-21, 2014 in Calabar, with sensational singer Asa and American R n’ B star Keisha Cole as lead acts.