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By Ngozi Nwoke
The Ereko Market Traders’ Association (EMTA) on Lagos Island recently swore in the new executive members after a free and fair election that led to the emergence of Benjamin Ndubuisi Nweke (Benduco) as chairman.
Other successful candidates who were inaugurated included Akinyemi Bilikisu, vice chairman; Aransiola Damilola, secretary general; Amamife Peter, treasurer; and Eze Samuel, financial secretary.
Also present at the event was Mr. Peter Ilegogie, the legal consultant of the union, who conducted the swearing in of the newly elected members.
Nweke, who was re-elected as chairman of the union, assured every EMTA member of a transparent, honest, peaceful and detribalised leadership.
He said: “First, I want to thank all the executive members that I worked with during my past tenure as the chairman of the union. They were all supportive and helpful members that contributed tremendously towards the success of my past administration.
“I believe that I was re-elected as the chairman for a purpose. If my past administration was not good, I would not have been considered for a second tenure. On this note, I like to assure the union members of my transparent, honest and detribalised leadership. We have members from different tribes and it is very significant that we carry every tribe along in peace and love in order to achieve unity.
“During my past administration, we experienced some challenges with managing members to work in unity with other members from other tribes, but we were able to still maintain peace and unity despite the disagreements. Before now, you can’t come into the market because of the dirty environment as a result of indiscriminate dumping of waste in the market.
“Today, you can see how clean the environment is. I appeal to all members to remain law abiding with the constitution of the union. It is against the law for any union member to indulge in physical fight in the market. We don’t condone such action.
“Since it was their choice to re-elect me for the second time, they should trust in my competence and trust in the deceidion of the executive members. Knowing that any decisin taken is for the positive growth and benefit of everyone in the union. We shall do our best to ensure that this new leadership will be better and well improved than the previous one.”
The chairman also commended the efforts of the Lagos State governor in fostering peace and unity between every tribe within the state.
Ereko is one of the biggest and most popular textile markets in Africa.
Mr. Samson Madu, the returning officer of the union, said that all members were given the opportunity to exercise their right to vote their preferred candidate during the election and he made sure that the people’s choices was not tampered.
“On the day of the election that saw the newly emerged executive members, we promised all members of a guaranteed result without sabotage and we fulfilled our promise. Today we are here to witness the successful swearing-in of the executives. It is a thing of great satisfaction for a job well done to witness this amazing event and I trust that with the leadership of the chairman, a peaceful coexistence amongst amongst the major tribes which are the Igbo and Yoruba, will be maintained.
“Ben Nweke is a trustworthy man judging from why and how he was chosen as the chairman by the people for the second time. That proves that he performed well during his previous administration.
“They say the reward for hard work is more work. I want all the inaugurated executives to know that we are watching them, the union members are also watching them and looking at their scorecard to see if they will fulfil the duties mandated to them before the end of their tenure. We assure them of our support and collaboration.”
Vice chairman of the union, Bilikisu Akinyemi, noted: “I owe my gratitude to the union members who voted me into this executive role. I believe it was for a good reason that we are given this task of leadership.
“And as we have taken this oath of office to serve with diligence, honour and truthfulness, we shall ensure not to disappoint in our obligations. All we appeal from the members is their support and prayers.
“We don’t want members that don’t trust and believe in our strength and capacity. We need members who are positive that better change and development can be achieved in this administration. We need members that will not entertain any manner of fear or doubt because that will be the beginning of losing trust in our capacity. So, we call on everyone to accord us their support so that we can collectively achieve our goals.”
On her part, outgoing woman leader of the union, Oshikoya Funmilayo, guaranteed her payers and support for the executives and urged members to remain committed.
She said: “It has been a great privilege working with the chairman during his previous administration. He is an astute leader and the people made a right decision to re-elect him. It is a well-deserved victory for him and I assure him and his executives of my undiluted support and backing.”
