Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
Leaders of Ebonyi State and South-East region on Thursday cancelled the birthday Lecture and book launch in honour of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State over the tragedy which claimed the lives of over 30 children on Wednewday in Ibadan.
The event organisers announced the cancellation at the venue in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State to guests who had gathered for the event.
Makinde and his Ebonyi Counterpart, Francis Nwifuru were scheduled to attend the event.
The event with the theme: Igbo Culture of Nwanne Di Na Mba, the Oluseyi Makinde Paradigm, with Senator Ben Obi as Guest lecturer was however postponed indefinitely due to the tragedy in Makinde’s state.
Tragedy
A children’s end of the year funfair had ended in tragedy in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
A stampede at the venue of the event led to the death of more than 30, mostly children.
The event was organised by Women in Need of Guidance and Support, whose founder is believed to be Queen Naomi Silekunola — ex-wife of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.
Ebonyi, South-East mourn with Gov, Oyo State
Chairman of the event, Senator Sam Egwu, and Chief Organiser, Ali Odefa, spoke to the guests at the event after which a one minute silence was observed in honor of the victims.
Ali Odefa, a Cheiftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) noted that the Governor and Oyo State cannot be mourning and the event will go on.
He said: “My friend had prepared to come here and be with us today. In fact, he sent an advance team two days ago. The advance team has been here, the Chief of Staff has been here two days ago.
“But when this incident happened, there is no how a state will be mourning; some families because of this incident, do not know the meaning of Christmas anymore.
“They cannot be crying while we are dancing and rejoicing. So, it is painful, it is sad, but that’s the reality.”
He said the Leaders at the event met and took the decision to postpone it.
“The leaders have met. If you look at this place, you will see that this is a gathering of Igbo leaders, non-partisan. We are not talking about party A or party B. These are a collection of Igbo leaders here sitting. So, we have decided, to cancel the event for today and shift for another time.
“We will tell you the date when that one has been fixed. And we will make efforts to bring all of you together again, particularly, this beautiful choir group. They would have given you some rendition that you will remember in a long time.
“So, I want to appreciate everybody that has left whatever you were doing to be present here today. I cannot thank you enough. All these leaders, they have one thing or the other they would have been doing in their various places.
“But they left it and came here to join me and one of my friends. I want to also thank my group. I have been sitting in all of your meetings,” he said
Senator Sam Egwu, who would have Chaired the event also mourned the death of the children and commiserated with the families, the governor and people of Oyo State over the tragedy.
“This event was to honor the Governor of Oyo State, but unfortunately, we can see he is not here with us. Together with the host-governor, this is because of the unfortunate incident that happened yesterday.
“You must have all heard that more than 30 children lost their lives due to a stampede that took place yesterday in Oyo.
“Because of a function, a student function that was organised because of the Christmas activity. Unfortunately, there was a stampede, and as I am talking to you, more than 30 children have been confirmed dead.
“So because of what has happened, the celebrant and others are not here. And we, as leaders, in consultation with Chief Odefa and his wife, have decided to cancel the function.
“It would not be right to be having a function when the Chief celebrant, the person from which we have made it, is mourning.
“It is also not right that parents who lost their children are mourning and crying, and we are here celebrating some of it. And because of that, we feel that people that lost their lives are Nigerians.
“The parents of these children are mourning. Nigerians are mourning. And our brother, of whom we are here, is also mourning. We want to mourn with him.
“We want to mourn with the people, the government of Oyo State. Because the Bible says when your brother is mourning, you should mourn with him. So, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is because of this that we have decided that this function has to be cancelled temporarily until further notice.
“I wish to appreciate all of you who are here, but you see what has happened is beyond our control. And as people who have sympathy for our fellow human beings, we have decided to stand this down.
On this note, I want to thank you for coming. I want to call on us all to stand up for one-minute silence in honour of the people who have lost their lives,” Egwu said.
