August 16, (THEWILL) – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reacted to the claim of his Igbo paternity, saying such insinuation makes him laugh.
“It just makes me laugh,” Obasanjo stated in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.
According to the statement, 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 (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday.
Speaking about the meeting, Chief Obasanjo said 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 Owerri Central Market 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”.
“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,” he stated, expressing the desire to lead the marketing team for the market.
The ex-president, who said nobody owns Nigeria and no one should be driven away from any part of the country, said, “We own this country together.”
“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.”
In his remarks, the group’s spokesperson, Chief Emeka Dallas Emmanuel, who read a letter jointly signed by Comrade Chinedu Ukatu and Evangelist 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 the actualisation of the international market capable of taking a vast majority off the streets.
Emmanuel added that the assistance of the former president would go a long way in helping members of the group obtain loans to purchase shops and spaces at the market.
