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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
An unwritten policy where non-indigene traders in Anambra State markets are excluded and disqualified from holding sensitive leadership positions in various markets in the state is on the verge of disrupting peace in the state, unless government takes decisive action immediately.
For some years now, traders not of Anambra origin have not been allowed to contest for some key positions in the executive of various markets in the state. The discriminatory policy allegedly started during the tenure of former Governor Peter Obi and was implemented by the former market leadership of Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo and his disbanded Amalgamated Anambra Traders Association (AMATA).
The unwritten policy allegedly continued in the Governor Willie Obiano administration and under the present leadership of Chief Ikechukwu Ekwegbalu of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders’ Association (ASMATA).
Under Obiano’s administration and Ekwegbalu’s market leadership, the policy seems to have been taken to ridiculous levels as market executive leaderships, mostly under appointed caretaker committees, were picked either from the Omambala axis, where the governor hailed from, or the Ogbunike Oyi axis, where the governor’s wife hailed from.
Traders in the state in most of the major markets have been bemoaning the bizarre development and also discussing how to break the cycle, until recently when the disqualification of non-indigenes of Anambra State from contesting the chairmanship of Mgbuka Amazu General Old Motor Spare Parts Dealers’ Association, Okpoko, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, sparked crisis that nearly caused a major breach of peace in the market.
The election of the leadership of the market, billed to hold on November 18, 2021, was quickly halted and postponed, following the spontaneous protest of non-indigenes who vowed that the election would not hold, if their candidates were disqualified from taking part in the exercise.
The crisis, which broke out shortly after accreditation of voters, led to the cancellation of the election by the president-general of ASMATA, Ekwegbalu, who ordered the electoral committee chairman, Mr. Romanus Omeje, to be the interim chairman of the market to avoid a breach of peace.
The election was already in progress, accreditation concluded, when Omeje announced the disqualification of two candidates who were not indigenes of Anambra State on the ground that non-indigenes were not allowed to contest the chairmanship of markets in the state.
Incidentally, Omeje, who announced the disqualification based on the directive from ASMATA, is a non-indigene from Enugu State.
The announcement infuriated other non-indigenes, who vowed that their candidates must take part in the election, since the market was not built by the state government.
One of the candidates, a former chairman of the market, Chief Ikechukwu Onuigbo, said the order was strange because it had never applied in the market since they built it.
“I was the chairman of the market from 2008 to 2012 and if non-indigenes were barred from chairmanship position, I wouldn’t have been the chairman of the market. This is pure intimidation,” he said.
He vowed that the order would never stand in the market because 80 per cent of the traders in the market are non-indigenes, who on their own built the market through their hard-earned resources.
The former chairman said even in Lagos State, and Yorubaland in general, non-indigenes are not stopped from becoming the chairman of Alaba International Market and other markets that they built.
Some of the aggrieved traders called on Obiano and the Governor-elect of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to remove what they described as an “obnoxious and illegal policy capable of destroying Igbo unity and solidarity.”
The immediate past chairman of the market, Nze Cyprain Ezechukwu, said disqualification of non-indigenes from contesting the chairmanship of the market was not in their constitution but a directive of the state’s market leadership, which did not go down well with the traders.
One of the chairmanship contestants from Enugu State, Mr. Emeka Egwuonwu, said the choice of the traders should be allowed to prevail.
“We were four chairmanship contestants, who secured forms for the election; two persons are Anambra indigenes, while two are non indigenes. We were surprised to hear that we would no longer contest on the eve of the election because we are not indigenes of Anambra State,” he lamented.
Ezechukwu affirmed that the exclusion of non-indigenes from contesting chairmanship position in the market was not specified in the constitution of the market.
President-general of non-indigenes in the market, under the aegis of 5-Alive Forum, Mr. Anthony Igwe, from Ebonyi State, disclosed that traders contributed money to build the market in 1985 and backed it with a constitution that specified that any member of the market was eligible to vote and be voted for, provided the person was not indebted to the union in any way.
He recalled that, prior to the election in the market, all the contestants for the chairmanship position were mandated to secure forms, which Onuigbo and Egwuonwu, non-indigenes, secured with N20,000, alongside Mr. Jeremiah Ndubuisi Okafor and Mr. Cyprain Ezechukwu, who are Anambra indigenes. He wondered why the two non-Anambra contestants would be disqualified on election day, which he said was a recipe for crisis.
A dealer in electronics, Chukwubuike Cletus, who came as an observer during the election, said the state government might not be aware of the order.
He said some ‘cabals’ within ASMATA and the ministry of commerce might have joined as a team to highjack the entire market leadership in the state without the knowledge of Obiano.
He appealed to the governor to intervene in the matter and remove monopoly of leadership in the markets, warning that, if allowed to continue, it might destroy the unity of the Igbo in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, a group, Non-Indigenous Free Minds Welfare Association, has called on Obiano to address the discriminatory policy without further delay.
Briefing newsmen in Onitsha, chairman of the association, Chief Ezebusi Ezebuwa, stated that the exclusion of non-indigenes from contesting chairmanship position in Anambra markets was a strange development capable of turning the markets in Anambra into hotbeds of crises, if not addressed immediately by Obiano.
Ezebuwa, who was represented by a member of the association, Mr. Sunday Onwugharu, regretted that, for almost 10 years, non-indigenes in major markets in Anambra have been deprived of the opportunity to partake as executives in almost all the markets in the state, pointing out that the ugly situation prompted their association to raise the alarm so that government should be aware and intervene.
He described the situation where only persons from Anambra could control markets jointly built by all traders in the same market, irrespective of their state of origin, as ungodly, noting that, if only one state continues to produce chairmen in Anambra markets, others would definitely feel cheated, thereby creating room for discontent and unnecessary agitation.
“Igbo are crying of marginalization being meted on them by Nigeria and we are here busy nagging over indigenes and non-indigenes sentiments. It is absolutely unacceptable. After all, Anambra State indigenes are chairmen of markets in some states where they reside outside Anambra and they live in peace with the indigenes,” he said.
Ekwegbalu, when contacted, owned up that those who were not indigenes of Anambra State cannot lead any market in the state. He said that such practice has been a standing order, which they were not in a hurry to change. But Commissioner for Commerce, Markets and Wealth Creation in Anambra State, Chief Uchenna Okafor, said he was not aware of any discriminatory policy in Anambra market leadership. He promised to contact the ASMATA PG over the matter.
“Governor Obiano’s Chief Press Secretary is from Enugu State. I don’t know where the discrimination policy in Anambra market leadership that you are talking about came from. Infact, I have not been properly briefed on the development,” he said.
