Anambra Medicine Dealers Accept Oze As Their New Site
Traders and medicine dealers at Ogbogu International Market, Onitsha Bridge Head, have accepted Oze, Nkwelle Ezunaka/ Azu Ogbunike in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, in their proposed relocation plans as directed by the federal government.
The traders numbering over 5000 rejected plans by some traders in the market to relocate them to Oba community.
They affirmed that the site is most suitable for the proposed Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC).
The stakeholders, traders and Board of Trustees in the Ogboogwu International Market, Bridge Head Onitsha, under the auspices of Exclusive International Pharmaceutical Center Nigeria Limited, Bridgehead Onitsha, have already written Governor Chukwuma Soludo, citing several reasons why Oze Nkwele Ezunaka should be the most ideal location for the proposed relocation instead of Oba which some other people have been projecting.
A statement signed by their legal representative, Enugu Offor Esq, the group on Wednesday disclosed that the Oba centre has been riddled with so many encumbrances ranging from litigation, ownership claims and counterclaims, financial indebtedness and environmental challenges which they claimed, promoters of the Oba centre carefully concealed, while suppressing lots of material facts from the benefiting public.
The group backed their claims with documented facts, disclosing that the state government had earlier given approval for the Oze Nkwele Ezunaka/Azu Ogbunike centre as the most ideal having been found free of any encumbrances with the size and topography of the site as added advantages.
According to the group, “Promoters of the Oba centre suppressed some fact that there is serious dispute over the Oba land bordering on claims by the original indigenous communities of Oba over unlawful expropriation of the land by the Government without compensation; and the subsequent Grant of Lease of the said land by the Anambra State Government to a private developer, which led to litigations between owners of the Oba land as the plaintiffs, the Government of Anambra State, and the private developer as defendants.”
Disclosing that work has commenced at the Oze/Ogbunike site within a short space of receiving government approval, they noted that there is no evidence of any visible construction or physical development of any kind on the said Oba land since 2016 when the decision was made by the past regime of the Market while the majority of the Ogbogwu traders opposed to the choice of Oba have staged several protest marches and written letters to the Registrar, Pharmacist Council of Nigeria and several market authorities and office of the Anambra state Commissioner for trade, commerce, market and wealth creation.
It would be recalled that following the policy of the Federal Government to ensure a healthy environment for sales and distribution of drugs and pharmaceutical products, and to close all open markets for sale and distribution of drugs in Nigeria, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria proposed the establishment of a Coordinated Wholesale Center (CWC) for sales and distribution of drug materials in Nigeria.
Following the said proposal, it became necessary to relocate the over 5,500 drug/medicine dealers carrying on their businesses at the Ogbogwu International Market, Onitsha, to a new healthy and more conducive site for the business in line with government’s policy.
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