By SHEILA MARIKAR 8 July 2009, 00:20 4 min read July 8, 2009 — —
It was expected to be the who’s who of everyone in the
entertainment industry, bigger than President Obama’s inauguration,
more star-studded than Princess Diana’s funeral.
A number of them came, like Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder, Queen
Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Lionel Richie. But many of the most
famous people in the music world didn’t show up to Michael
Jackson’s memorial Tuesday.
Among the stars expected to attend who did not: Quincy Jones,
who produced some of Jackson’s biggest hits, Beyonce Knowles, who
paid tribute to Jackson at June 28’s BET awards, and Macaulay
Culkin, who spent time at Jackson’s Neverland ranch as a boy.
Some of Jackson’s closest friends also shunned the service.
Diana Ross, the soul legend Jackson emulated and the potential
guardian of his three children, declined to attend and instead
issued a statement to the media as the memorial began.
“I am trying to find closure,” Ross said in her statement. “I
want you to know that even though I am not there at the Staples
Center, I am there in my heart. I have decided to pause and be
silent. This feels right for me. Michael was a personal love of
mine, a treasured part of my world, part of the fabric of my life
in a way that I can’t seem to find words to express.”
“Michael wanted me to be there for his children, and I will be
there if they ever they need me,” she continued. “I hope, today
brings closure for all those who loved him. Thank you, Katherine
and Joe, for sharing your son with the world and with me. I send my
love and condolences to the Jackson family.”
Dame Elizabeth Taylor announced via her Twitter page Monday that
though she’s mourning Jackson’s passing, she had no desire to
participate in or attend his memorial.
“I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my
grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a
public event,” she said. “I said I wouldn’t go to the Staples
Center and I certainly don’t want to become a part of it. I love
him too much.”
Did Some Stars Have Good Reason for Not Going? Screen and stage
legend Liza Minnelli, a longtime pals of Jackson’s, was also a
no-show.
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Then there’s the bevy of successful musicians who count Jackson
as their contemporary and/or inspiration (if not their personal
friend) who were notably absent from the proceedings: fellow
legends Madonna, Prince and Elton John, pop stars Justin Timberlake
and Britney Spears, and Sheryl Crow, who began her career as a
back-up singer for Jackson in the 1980s. They all sang Jackson’s
praises to the press in the days following his death — why not show
up to the main event?
For some, said Us Weekly senior editor Ian Drew, there were good
reasons: schedule (Madonna and Spears are on tour — skipping a show
could cost them millions), spectacle (Taylor and Ross made it clear
they didn’t want to steal the show from Jackson) and spite.
“Prince and Michael Jackson always hated each other,” Drew said.
“He wouldn’t even make a statement when Michael died. He’s always
had to take a backseat to Michael, which for him, being so
prolific, is very insulting.”
But according to E! Online columnist Ted Casablanca, some of the
big-wigs had no excuse.
“The big ones: Diana, Liza, Madonna — no excuse is good enough,”
he said. “Just show up. These are incredibly rich people. It can be
arranged. You get escorted in, you get a limo, you don’t talk to
anybody, you hide behind your sunglasses, you get back on your
private jet, you’re gone. They’re hiding behind excuses. This is
when you drop everything.”
No one will contest that Jackson’s memorial moved his family,
friends and fans and paid tasteful tribute to the pop icon. But for
better or for worse, Tuesday’s ceremony lacked the fireworks and
spectacle that characterized Jackson’s career, an over-the-top
quality the King of Pop himself surely would have appreciated.
Casablanca blames the celebrities for that.
“It’s another tragedy, in a way. You arrange this big, glittery
send off and not all the glitter shows up,” he said. “I thought it
smacked of letting him be buried a bit lonelier than he should’ve
been. He should have been sent off better than this.”
New National Forest Policy to Preserve
Ecosystems–Environment Minister
- The Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammed Mahmood Abubakar has
said that the new National Forest Policy (NFP), recently approved
by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will greatly assist the
country in the sustainable management of its vast forest
resources.
He added that the NFP will also help to preserve Nigeria’s rich
ecosystems as well as boost the current efforts of addressing
various Climate Change challenges in the country.
Dr. Abubakar, noted that the policy, which was approved last
Wednesday by FEC, had earlier been subjected to reviews by various
stakeholders before it was endorsed and adopted by the National
Council on Environment (NCE) in November 2019, after assessing its
diverse benefits.
According to him, the new policy is anchored on the need for
continuous socio-economic development that provides optimal
benefits to the people and government of Nigeria in a sustainably
managed environment that would contribute to achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is guided by a vision of sustainable management of forest
ecosystems, socio-economic growth, environmental sustainability and
provision of goods and services for domestic and export purposes,
all for the nation’s benefit,” he stated.
Dr. Mahmood Abubakar regretted that the country’s forest area
has been on a continuous decline since 1970, having dropped from
10% to 6% presently, noting that its contributions to the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) is increasing, as revenue is being generated
through controlled export of wood and other forest products.
He opined that, “unsustainable exploitation, deforestation,
extensive agriculture, population growth, infrastructural
development, fuel wood extraction, forest fires, and obsolete
National Forest Policy, are some of the factors responsible for the
decline in the country’s forest resources.”
The Minister, disclosed that the 2006 National Forest Policy
sets strategies for growing the sector but did not take cognizance
of emerging and contemporary development needs and has thus become
obsolete.
“Moreover, the national target of increasing Nigeria’s total
forest cover from 10% to 25% by 2020, and the need to use forests
as a veritable carbon sink to address Climate change, make it
necessary to review the 2006 National Forest Policy to a new policy
that is all inclusive and in line with current global standard.
“
He noted that the forestry sector remains an important natural
capital asset in the attainment of national development objectives,
particularly in boosting economic activities, employment creation,
income generation, provision of goods and services, poverty
reduction, environmental security and sustainability.
Mahmood Abubakar equally added that the overall objective of the
NFP is to achieve sustainable management of forests and forest
resources, that would ensure sustainable increase in the economic,
social and environmental benefits for the country’s present and
future generation. (END)
Saghir el Mohammed
Director Press
Federal Ministry of Environment