Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has ordered the immediate remodelling of the Onitsha Main Market in a move described as a “hard, but necessary” step for the future.
This came following its one-week closure.
The decision follows the governor’s last visit to the market, where he lamented that the once-famed “biggest market in West Africa” has collapsed into a shadow of its old self, adding that the market is “literally dead”.
Addressing stakeholders and traders at the Light House, Awka, on Friday, the governor delivered an assessment of the market’s decline, citing the devastating impact of the Monday sit-at-home order and decades of poor urban planning.
Soludo said, “The Onitsha Main Market, in its current state, is no longer functional. We have done the study. The main market is no longer what it was designed to be. It has literally died.
“I recall a time in the late 70s when the market was a model of efficiency, with wide streets allowing trucks and shoppers to move freely. Today, that layout has been replaced by chaos.
”If people cannot park, they cannot shop. In the late 70s, trucks used to drive into the market; massive parking spaces were provided for them. Today, that is gone.”
