*Pix above: Chief Olusegun Obasanjo sandwiched by PBAT(r) and Muhammadu Buhari(l)
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has fumed that those aying Igbos must go from will be ones to first leave, even as he, for the first time, speaks on his controversial Igbo root and paternity.
This is just as the former President said he doesn’t believe anybody in Nigeria should be driven away from any part of the country declaring that, “we own this country together.”
In the build-up to the 2023 general election, the former President was accused of backing Labour Party’s Peter Obi, because of his (Obsanjo’s) Igbo roots.
But in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Friday, Obasanjo was quoted to have made reference to the alleged Igbo roots.
“It just makes me laugh,” Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo reportedly spoke while receiving the leadership of Ndigbo Amaka Progressive Market Association, an umbrella body of major markets in Lagos state held at the boardroom of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Speaking at the meeting, 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.”
He said: “I 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.”
The former President 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 idea of Central Market Owerri had been in the offing since the creation of Imo State, but “for one reason or the other, it has not been implemented.”
“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,” the former President said.
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.
He further sought the former President’s support towards the actualization of the international market capable of taking a vast majority of traders off the streets.(agency)/ ###
