From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Traders at the multibillion-naira Building Materials International Market, Ogidi, Anambra State, recently elected new leaders.
Before now, elections into market executives in different markets in Anambra had always been a ding-dong affair as contestants tried to outwit each other. In most cases, it ended up with protests and litigations. Sometimes, there would be incidents of shooting and skirmishes, as some ended up with broken heads and other kinds of injuries during such elections.
But in a recent election for the executives of the Building Materials Market, Ogidi, it was rancour-free.
Some analysts described the exercise as something that should be emulated elsewhere.
At the Building Materials International Market, Ogidi, the incumbent president-general of the market, Chief Jude Nwankwo, was re-elected for another tenure of four years.
Considering the huge capital inflow in the market, it was expected that he would have many challengers who might want to take over power from him, but the reverse was the case, as he stood for re-election without opposition.
The market was closed for business on election day but the bulk of the traders that thronged the election venue were very happy and never complained.
It was such a seamless exercise that the chairman of the electoral committee of the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA), Chief Sam Emeka, thanked the re-elected president, Chief Jude Nwankwo, for providing quality leadership and setting the pace in peaceful coexistence and harmony, above all other markets in the state.
He said the overwhelming support of the traders to the Nwankwo leadership was evidence of his charisma and leadership qualities, which translated into unprecedented prosperity among the traders and also promoted the virtues of transparency, accountability and accessibility required of a good leader.
A trader in the market, Mr. Kenneth Ibeagha, told Daily Sun that Nwankwo “redefined market leadership to the extent that we saw that it was possible for leaders to execute tangible verifiable projects for the traders and the market without embezzling funds and rendering deficit account.”
Addressing the traders, Nwankwo, popularly known as Ezeudo Jollity, thanked the traders for the massive support given to his leadership for the past four years, pledging to consolidate on his past achievements in maintaining peace in the market and eradicating poverty and idleness.
He also promised to advance his rating as a core investor, known for his philanthropy and empowering fellow traders who had experienced misfortune, by granting them funds to improve on their businesses and also acquiring massive plots of land for the market housing scheme.