The celebration of the World Environment Day (WED) slated for Tuesday, June 5, has been postponed by the Federal Ministry of Environment due to the national tragedy that occurred on Sunday.
The Chief Press Secretary of the ministry, Mr Lawrence Ojabo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the postponement was due to the national tragedy that led to the death of 153 people in Lagos.
The event earlier scheduled for Tuesday, which was to hold at the National Press Centre, has been postponed till further notice.
According to him, we cannot be mourning and at the same time celebrating, so the ministry will fix a day after the period of mourning.
NAN reports that some of the guests, who arrived at the venue for the event were told that it could no longer hold.
NAN also reports that some of the guests expressed their disappointment at the late postponement of the event, pointing out that they were not informed of the decision to cancel the event.
One of the guests, Mr John Musa, a civil servant, said the tragedy occurred on Sunday, but the decision to cancel the event was not taken until some of them had spent their money and time to come to Radio House.
Mr Ahmed Muktar, an environmentalist, said he was highly disappointed because WED was an event that holds annually, adding that the postponement was uncalled for.
Muktar, who came all the way from Kano State said that the decision should have been earlier than now, advising the ministry to be proactive in its decisions.
"The ministry would have communicated to all stakeholders in time to avoid this kind of embarrassment," he said.
On the other hand, Mrs Catherine Ejiofor said the postponement was in order, adding that the Dana crash affected all Nigerians.
She also said that the declaration of three days of mourning by the Federal Government superseded any convention by a ministry or agency.
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