Igbo paternity claim makes me laugh – Obasanjo

Holds Strategic Meeting On Building Owerri Central Market With Group

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has, for the first time, reacted to the claim of his Igbo paternity, declaring that such insinuations made him laugh.

The disclosure came even 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.”

Obasanjo 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, held at the boardroom of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Friday.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo, who did not speak much on the paternity claim issue, simply said, “it just makes me laugh.”

Speaking about the meeting, 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 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, as he expressed the desire to lead the marketing team for the market,” he said.

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 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,” he noted.

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 would be a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, expressing the group’s determination to play its role towards 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 would go a long way in helping their members to obtain loans to purchase shops and spaces at the market.