ASMATA Boss Urges Anambra Traders to Keep Markets Clean or Face Sanction

By Julie Sylvia, Onitsha

The President of Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Asociation (ASMATA), Chief Ikechukwu Ekwegbalu have warned the Market leaders in Anambra State p to ensure cleanliness of their markets at all times or face sanction.

Sounding the note of warning at Ogbunike, Oyi local Government Area, Tuesday, he stated that the resolve to maintain a clean market environment was in line with Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s directive for a clean State.

Chief Ekwegbalu, while fielding questions from newsmen, said: “We have sanitation in all the markets every second Thursday of the month and I ll make sure that all the markets are neat, and the monitoring of the sanitation exercise is being carried out by the management of ASMATA .

On the preparation for the 2023 general election, he disclosed that he was in support of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, to become the president come 2023.

“Consequently, I advise traders and other people to get their PVCs and vote for Peter Obi, as he has good agenda for Nigeria.

”Since the coming of Governor Soludo,he has being a solution to the problems of the State, and i urged them to give him their maximum support.

“He is doing well now, he is coming out gradually, initially it seemed that it was diffcult but now he is focused to turn around the State as he had sacked all the thirty flawed markets thereby ensuring that peace existed in all the Anambra Markets.

On the celebration of the recent Ogbunike community new yam festival, the ASMATA boss revealed that, “We as Ogbuefis, ate the yam first before the entire people ate theirs.

”New yam festival is an age long traditional heritage of the Igbo people and it is celebrated once in a year. It is a period of thanking God for the plenty harvest of the farm produce and coming together of the people.

“We continue to celebrate it even in the absence of our traditional ruler who has joined his ancestors, he was supposed to officially perform the cutting of the new yam function.

”I advise that people should stand by the truth as we look forward to elect a new traditional ruler. We want a God fearing person, peson with integrity that will take up the mantle as our traditional ruler, he must be for the interest of his subjects.”