Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Soludo, has directed all markets, schools, banks and motor parks in the state to resume activities on Mondays.
He warned that that with effect from Monday, April 4, 2022, any market leader or chairman, who failed to mobilize traders for Monday business would lose his position.
The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had declared sit-at-home in the state and other southeastern parts of the country to protest the detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Soludo noted that any trader who failed to open shops on Monday would also lose their shops in the market.
The new governor, who spoke at the Women Development Center, Awka, at a forum with traders and transporters, said the state and South East in general had lost several billions of naira as a result of boycott of activities every Monday.
He said, “Every Monday sit-at-home must end in Anambra. Normal activities must resume in earnest. With the Monday sit-at-home, the South East economy is sinking gradually. When you boycott activities in Anambra or any other part of the South East, normal activities are going on in other parts of the country. When normal activities are going on in other places, the person or persons you want to show your anger is not actually feeling what you are doing. You are only destroying your home.
“It is high time we came back to our senses and do the right thing. We have proper ways and procedures to express our agitation than to engage in activities that can only destroy our home. In other parts of the country, school children attend classes for five days; but in Anambra and other parts of the South East, it is only four days. At the end of the day, our children will go into common or unity exams with other children from other parts of the country.
“Today, many businesses and investors are relocating to Asaba and other places. This is killing our economy and we cannot afford to continue that way. Personally, I endorsed the joint decision of Igbo elders, bishops and others that there should be tripartite conversation about the issue of Nnamdi Kanu and Biafra agitation. Therefore, we must do things the right way; while we await such conversation.
“Therefore, with effect from Monday, April 4, 2022, every school, bank, market, motor park and other human activities will resume in earnest. Any market leader, who fails to mobilize traders in his market will be sanctioned; and any trader who fails to open his shop for business every Monday will also face sanction. School heads and operators of financial institutions should also take note.”
Soludo said the state government was mobilizing security agencies and local security organizations across the state to ensure protection of lives and property.
President General of Bridge Head Market, Onitsha, Mr. Sunday Obinze, who spoke on behalf of the traders, assured the governor that market leaders would sensitize traders on the need to open their shops on Mondays.
He urged the state government to ensure that security agencies are everywhere in the state so that innocent citizens would not be molested.
President of Urban Drivers Welfare Association, Mr. Moses Ohaebo, also assured the governor that the union would mobilize its members to work on Mondays.
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