Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that the claim in some quarters that his father hailed from the South-East was laughable.
Obasanjo, Nigeria’s first military Head of State (1976 – 1979) to also return as a civilian president (1999 – 2007) simply said “it just makes me laugh.”
The ‘Ebora Owu’ also said it was wrong for anybody to tell the Igbo to leave Lagos or anywhere, insisting that “we own this country together”.
Obasanjo, Nigeria’s fifth and 12th Commander-in-Chief, made this known when he received in audience the leadership of Ndigbo Amaka Progressive Market Association, an umbrella body of major markets in Lagos State.
The meeting held at the boardroom of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Abeokuta, Ogun State.
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 said the leadership of the group reached out to him to support the establishment of 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 the other, 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 happy also that the governor is showing the desired interest and understanding. And, I am confident that the Owerri Central Market will be”.
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 asserting that, “we own this country together “
“Having ensured that the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa all came together to fight the war of unity in Nigeria, and “not to fight Igbo to go, but to come. So, if anybody says to me, that somebody should leave any place, he will be the one to leave.”
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 the group’s determination to play its role to 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 will go a long way in helping their members to obtain loans to purchase shops and spaces at the market.
