Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has for the first time, reacted to claims of his Igbo paternity, saying such insinuations only make him laugh.
The former president said he doesn’t believe anybody in Nigeria should be driven away from any part of the country, adding, “We own this country together.”
Obasanjo stated this on Thursday 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.
In a statement yesterday by his special assistant on media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo simply said, “it just makes me laugh.”
He 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 Central Market in Owerri had been contemplated since the creation of Imo State, adding that for one reason or the other, it had 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.
Obasanjo said he doesn’t believe anybody in Nigeria should be driven away from any part of the country.
“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.
The group’s spokesman, Chief Emeka Dallas Emmanuel who read a letter jointly signed by Comrade Chinedu Ukatu and Evangelist Iwuchukwu Ezenwafor, said the market would be a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, assuring the group’s determination to play its role to the growth of the market and the nation. He sought the help of the former president on actualisation of the market.
