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Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Traders at the Building Materials International Market, Ogidi, Anambra State, rolled out the drums recently, as their ultra-modern market extension was inaugurated.
The multi-billion-naira market has been adjudged the fastest built commercial centre in Anambra State, having been completed within a year and some months. The facility boasts of access roads to the market, spacious parking spaces, Internet facilities, security outpost and other features that make trading convenient.
Encomiums poured in torrents for the president-general of the market, Chief Jude Ezenwankwo (Ezeudo), for his leadership qualities and foresight that observers said have yielded several benefits and brought unprecedented prosperity for the traders in the market.
Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano, who launched the market, commended the traders for putting up such a structure for commercial purposes without government funding.
Represented by his Deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke, Obiano said Anambra people were moving higher in all their noble endeavours and advised the traders to invest their capital in building factories and industries so as to create more employment opportunities for the people.
The president-general of the market said the purpose of constructing the modern market extension was to accommodate Igbo traders, brothers and sisters displaced from their former places of business in the North as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency.
He said the extension also fulfils the need of accommodating the spiralling number of newly settled trade apprentices who needed to start business in their own shops.
Nwankwo attributed the various success stories recorded in the market to the manifestation of the fruits of peace, which his leadership enthroned.
He told the cheering crowd that the market and its leadership had no pending litigation in any court, noting that all court cases were all withdrawn and struck out on October 17, 2017, after a a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was reached that enthroned a “win-win” situation for all in the market.
He also commended Governor Obiano for what he described as his vision, credibility, hard work, dynamism in administration, accommodative spirit and having the interests of Anambra people at heart in executing infrastructural developments in the state.
He recalled various government interventions in the welfare of traders, which included the N10 million projects to markets, donation of vehicles to security operatives and firefighting vehicles to markets, among others. He noted that, under Obiano, traders were no longer intimidated, molested and disenfranchised, while the prevailing environment has made it very dignifying for a person to be introduced as a trader in Anambra State.
He told the deputy governor: “It may interest you to know that this market was built singlehandedly with monetary contributions from our members. We did not borrow money from any bank to execute the project. It will equally interest you to know that our association has touched lives in the state by giving them hundreds of millions of naira to start their own businesses and allocating plots of land to them in our Building Materials International Market Association Estate.
“We have constructed drainages, installed electricity transformers, sunk boreholes, constructed streetlights and modern toilet facilities in the market. Firefighting equipment is also in place. Sir, our market is well organized and, without sounding boastful, this market is second to none in Anambra State, if not in the whole of Nigeria. We are partners with government in the area of internally-generated revenue by fulfilling our financial obligations as and when due.
“Having seen the ways and manner we have assisted the government to better the lot of the members of the public, we pray you with due respect to come to our rescue by tarring the road inside the market that leads to the High Court of Justice, Ogidi. The tarring of this road will ameliorate the traffic jam that we are confronted with on a daily basis. The road in question was opened up and developed by our market.”
Nwankwo acknowledged the contributions of members of the executives of the market whom he said were all partners in progress towards achieving whatever good the association had achieved.
President-general of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, Chief Ikechukwu Ekwegbalu, lauded the prevailing peace and progress in the market. He said the traders were reaping the fruits of obedience when they were sacked from Ezenwekwe Street in Odoakpu to relocate to a more spacious and befitting place in Ogidi.
Commissioner for Trade, Commerce and Wealth Creation, Uchenna Okafor, noted that the economic stability of any society was determined by social stability, while the social stability of such society was also determined by the security in place. He said the security architecture put in place by the Obiano administration in Anambra had made the economy to boom once more.
He lauded the leadership abilities of Chief Jude Nwankwo, which he noted had resulted in massive positive results coming out from the market.
The lawmaker representing Orumba North/South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and former market leader in the state, Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, called on the state government to grant a 10-year tax waiver to the occupants of the new market so that they could recover the funds spent in building the edifice.
