By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
The Anambra State Commissioner for Commerce, Hon. Nomso Ebonwu, has intervened in the brewing dispute involving traders at Ogbo Mmanya Market (Onitsha Beer Market) and the owners of the property where the market is situated. Just last week, traders in the market staged a fierce protest against the property owner, calling on the government of Anambra State to come to their rescue. After due consideration of the issues in question, the Commissioner for Commerce convened a meeting of all the parties involved.
In the meeting conveyed by Mr. Ebonwu, the Anambra State Commissioner for Commerce, which was attended by the market stakeholders and landowners, as well as the Chairman of the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA), Chief Humphrey Anuna, the Commissioner, upon careful deliberation, invited all the parties to the negotiation table. The invitation was subsequently accepted by all the parties to the dispute to renegotiate their terms of reference and resolve amicably.
With this intervention, the parties have now gone back to discuss so that they will arrive at a mutually beneficial ground, until a pending appeal on property ownership is determined by the court. The parties are expected to reach a common ground by next week, which will provide temporary cover for all parties till the outcome of the pending appeal.
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