Egbonyi, Etuki Eborty (PhD); Ephraim, Idongesit Emmanuel, Ph.D Omoogun, Remi Modupe, Ph.D; Ambe, Benjamin Ayua, Ph.D & Onnogen, Usang Nkanu, (Ph.D.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which cultural festivals influence sustainable economic development in Cross River State, Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of the study, one null hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Literature review was carried out based on the variables of the study. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 774,824 adult residents. Multi-stage sampling procedure comprising of stratified and purposive sampling techniques were adopted to select the senatorial districts, local government areas, as well as one thousand (1000) respondents drawn from the six local government areas for the study. The instrument used for data collection was a four point rating scale instrument title “Cultural Festivals and Sustainable Economic Development Questionnaire. The instrument was validated by two experts in measurements and evaluation in the Faculty of Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient reliability method was adopted to test the consistency of the test instrument, which was found to be between 0.70 and 0.84. The instrument was administered personally by the researchers with the help of three trained research assistants. To test the hypotheses, simple linear regression was used. The result revealed that cultural festivals, significantly contribute to sustainable economic development. Based on the result of the findings, it was recommended among others that Government should fully participate in all major cultural festivals like Ekpe masquerade festival, new yam festivals, fishing festivals, boat regatta, so as to derive its benefit of economic development.