By Gift Oba Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said the claim of his Igbo paternity makes him laugh as he does not believe anyb...
By Gift Oba
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said the claim of
his Igbo paternity makes him laugh as he does not believe anybody in Nigeria
should be driven away from any part of the country.
Obasanjo added that irrespective of the cultural differences
“we own this country together.”
The former president stated this when he received the
leadership of Ndigbo Amaka Progressive Market Association, an umbrella body of
major markets in Lagos State at the boardroom of the Olusegun Obasanjo
Presidential Library Abeokuta, on Thursday.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde
Akinyemi, Obasanjo who did not speak much further on the paternity claim issue,
simply said, “It just makes me laugh.”
The former President noted that the leadership of the group
reached out to him to support the establishment of the Owerri Central Market
positioned to be the best of its kind in the country.
He acknowledged that the Central Market Owerri had been
contemplated since the creation of Imo State, adding that for one reason or
another, it has not been implemented, “but, I am glad it is coming up again and
I hope this time, we are all going to make it real. It is going to be big, the
first of its kind.
“And, I am also happy that the governor is showing the
desired interest and understanding. And, I am confident that the Owerri Central
Market will be, as he expressed the desire to lead the marketing team for the
market.
“Having ensured that the Yorubas, Igbos and Hausas all came
together to fight the war of unity in Nigeria, and “not to fight Igbos to go,
but to come. So if anybody says to me, that somebody should leave any place, he
will be the one to leave” he said.
In his remarks, the group’s spokesperson Emeka Emmanuel who
read a letter jointly signed by their leaders Chinedu Ukatu and Iwuchukwu
Ezenwafor said the market will be a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship
assuring of the group’s determination to play its role in the growth of the
market and the nation.
He further sought the help of the former President towards
actualizing the global market which, according to him, would remove a great
number of people from the streets.
Emmanuel added that the assistance of the former president
would go a long way in helping their members obtain loans to purchase shops and
spaces at the market.
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