Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra has called on Igbos in Lagos to invest in Anambra State, saying the Lagos State government will not respect Igbos if their state is not “prosperous and livable.”

  “Your host will never respect you if you don’t have a livable and prosperous homeland and we have a responsibility to leave Anambra State better than we met it,” Mr Soludo said.

   Mr Soludo made this call on Friday during a town hall meeting with Ndi Anambra resident in Lagos, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Christian Aburime.  

 He further spoke on the efforts of his government to make Anambra a business-friendly environment, informing his audience that “Anambra Investment Summit will be coming up soon in September this year.” 

  “Anambra is loading and the options are open. The need to change Anambra State from a departure lounge to a destination; the homeland consciousness must be inculcated in the perceptual mind of every Onye-Anambra,” Mr Soludo said. 

 Mr Soludo’s statement comes as some Igbo traders condemned the Lagos Government for not giving them proper notice before the recent demolition at Alaba International Market. But the state government denied the claim.  

Lagos, Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan and commercial city,  has a huge number of successful Igbo traders. However, the defeat of President Bola Tinubu, Lagos political godfather,  by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in Lagos in the February 25th presidential election elicited ethnic tension as politicians openly deployed ethnic rhetorics to their advantage.