Southeast governors, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice Presidential Candidate and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi and billionaire businessman, Prince Arthur Eze are among the notable personalities expected at the Electronics Section of Alaba International Market 40 years anniversary celebration.
According to the Executive Chairman of the section ,Evangelist Paulinus Ugochukwu .the other guests would include the Deputy Senate President ,Chief Ike Ekweremadu ,the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo ,Chief John Nnia Nwodo ,Sir Emeka Offor ,Chief Innocent Chukwuma,Chief Chidi Anyaegbo, among others.
He said that the Oba of Lagos,Rilwan Akiolu as well as the Eze Uzu of Awka in Anambra State would be among the royal fathers of the day.
The market leader said that they are rolling out drums to celebrate because 40 is a symbolic number.
According to him ,it symbolizes freedom as well as new beginning.
“My election was a mandate from God to go and change Alaba International Market .A lot of things have gone wrong and God wanted to liberate the market .You know that it took 40 years for the children of Israel to reach the Land of Canaan and in Israel ,a slave becomes free once he clocks 40 years in the service of his master. So, 40 is a very significant number and we want to make the best use of this opportunity to make a fresh start. Preparation for the anniversary is already in top gear and I have the confidence that it is going to be a memorable event.”
Evangelist Ugochukwu said that they would also use the anniversary to remember and honour the founding fathers of the market.
He disclosed that the seed that they planted and watered many years ago has become a giant tree ,adding that nobody can tell the story of Alaba without mentioning the founding fathers.
“Soran Kierkegaard said that life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards .What we are enjoying today is the labour of our heroes past ,that is our founding fathers and other stakeholders who worked tirelessly to make the market what it is today..We are also not forgetting our numerous customers over the years .It is, in fact, because of their repeated purchases that Alaba is still surviving .They are also among those that we are going to celebrate at the anniversary.The anniversary will help us to reflect on our past and then chat a new way forward. So, Alaba is going to enter another phase and we know that we are certainly going to become better.”