Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday, May 27, 2021, visited the Obasanjo Market at Oluyole Estate, Ibadan, Oyo State, with a promise to assist in having better structure and government backing.
The visit at the Day Old chicks market recorded a massive turnout of traders and buyers, who welcomed the former President amid pomp and ceremony.
Most of them were said to have abandoned their goods to joining in praise singing and eulogising the former president.
In a release by the Special Assistant on Media to the former President, Kehinde Akinyemi, it was stated that Obasanjo, who arrived the market at about 9.20am, took time to go around the long and congested market.
The tour was conducted by Deacon Sunday Agusa, the General Manager of the Obasanjo Farms, Ibadan, located in the area.
The elated former President said his attention was drawn to the presence of the market by his staff and that his name had been used to develop the market, with the aim of its becoming national and international market on day-old chicks in the country.
According to him, “my attention was drawn to the situation here and I decided to come and see things myself. Consciously and unconsciously, you have developed into a source of market, you buy, you sell, you interact. And this has made it very popular far and near, even though, it was not structured.
“So, what remains is that if we don’t want them to send us away from here, we have to structure ourselves in order to continue to benefit from the gains of trading our day-old chicks.
“What I am saying, in essence, is that I will endeavour to see the governor (Seyi Makinde) to provide for us an alternative place if this area is not available for you bringing your hatched chicks, or you coming to buy our chicks here.
“We have to plan against any government coming to send us away, and that is the structure that I am talking about,” Obasanjo disclosed, as the crowd responded overwhelmingly to his submission.
The leader of the Day Old Chicks Merchant Association of Nigeria (DOCMAN), Olaiya Ogunmoyewa at the Obasanjo Day Old International Market, appreciated the coming of the former President, saying that the visit had lessened their fears on the future of the market.
He said the Obasanjo had spoken about their agitation, “and we are pleased with what you have told us.
“This is what was on our minds. And you have told us the move you will take to assist us. We want to thank you and that by God’s grace, we shall all be happy at the end of the day.”
A giant-sized portrait of the former President was presented as an appreciation of the visit.
