RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Traders at the Building Materials International Market Ogidi Idemili-North Local Government Area of Anambra State yesterday defied the rain to hold a mega prayer rally for the peaceful conduct of the Saturday November 8th governorship poll in the state and to equally ask God fervently to return Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo for another term in office.
The prayer rally which left the entire market shutdown for more than six hours witnessed very large turn out of traders singing praises and asking God for the reelection of Governor Soludo because even the blind could see that his first term has indeed transformed Anambra state beyond their expectations.
The traders who united themselves in prayers and supplications to God as led by Rev. Abraham Nwachukwu of the Grace of God Mission Onitsha, decreed that there would be no bloodshed, no kidnappings and nobody would hijack the process because they believe God would deploy his angels all over the state to guard against any form of violence or malpractices.
Addressing traders in the rain, President-General Building Materials International Market Ogidi, Chief Jude Nwankwo recalled that traders in the state had endorsed Soludo as their consensus candidate for the November 8th governorship election and there is no going back on their decision.
Nwankwo stated that candidates of other political parties were not allowed to campaign in the markets because all the traders in the markets have adopted Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo as their own candidate, noting that one of the gains of the Soludo administration is security.
The PG recalled that before the advent of the present administration, traders at the building materials market Ogidi were being kidnapped on regular basis and ransoms amounting to millions of naira paid for the release of colleagues from their captors. But, according to him, since the Soludo government came on board, nothing of such ever occured again in the market.
He also pointed out that another problematic issue was the incessant abduction of traders in the market at one Ugwu-Nwasike road close to the market due to bad portions of the road but he heaved a sigh of relief, saying that since Governor Soludo came and attended to the Ugwu-Nwasike road, kidnappings, armed robbery attacks and other criminal activities became a thing of the past.
He mentioned the free antenatal and free child delivery services in all government hospitals across the state coupled with the governor's free education policy from nursery to secondary levels as well as the government youth empowerment schemes as seen in the One Youth Two Skills Empowerment Initiative and a host of others.
Although he stressed the need for construction of a pedestrian bridge at the Building Materials International Market Ogidi to put an end to incessant avoidable deaths due to indiscriminate crossing of the Onitsha-Enugu federal highway by millions of traders in the area. He therefore urged all the traders to come out on Saturday to vote Governor Soludo and reelect him for him to consolidate and continue on his trajectory of transformative governance in the state.
Also in a brief remarks, the President-General Anambra State Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA) Chief Humphrey Ogochukwu Anuna, said that there is no gainsaying the fact that the difference is clear because Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has distinguished himself with his first term sterling performance and monumental transformations.
Anuna who urged his fellow traders to go out on Saturday to vote Soludo massively at their various polling centres, equally charged them not to just vote and walk away but vote and wait patiently at their polling units to protect their votes and get the eventual outcomes.
Meanwhile Chairman of Idemili-North Soludo Reelection Campaign Council and former Idemili-North Local Government Chairman Chief Hon. Emma Obi Idemobi in his speech noted that the governor has transformed Anambra beyond the imaginations and expectations of the citizenry.
Idemobi who noted that Soludo is transforming schools in the state into smart schools, pointed out too that the governor constructed Akpaka road in Onitsha axis that has been the worst nightmares of people trying to access the road.
He therefore emphasized the need for all the traders to exercise their political rights and civic responsibilities on Saturday to ensure that Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo is reelected.
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