A Deserted Street In South East
By David Onwuchekwa
The weekly sit-at-home order observed across South East Nigeria since August 9, 2021, has continued to take a heavy toll on the region’s economy, with growing calls from stakeholders for its immediate cessation due to its failure to achieve its stated objective.
The sit-at-home was initiated by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a protest to demand the release of its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The order was initially observed every Monday and on days Kanu appeared in court. Although IPOB later announced a suspension of the exercise, a faction of the group continued to enforce it, leading to persistent shutdowns across the region.
Economic activities across the five South East states are routinely disrupted every Monday, with markets, banks, schools, transport services, and small businesses shut down. Traders, artisans, transport operators, and other daily income earners are among the hardest hit, losing a full day’s earnings each week.
Economists and business owners estimate that the region loses over 50 productive business days annually due to the sit-at-home, a development they say has slowed growth, discouraged investment, and forced some businesses to relocate to other parts of the country where economic activities are uninterrupted.
Despite the prolonged observance of the sit-at-home, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remained in detention and now imprisoned, raising questions about the effectiveness of the strategy.
Critics argue that the continued shutdown has not influenced the position of the Federal Government and has instead inflicted long-term damage on the South East economy.
Stakeholders have called for alternative approaches, including sustained legal advocacy, political engagement, and diplomatic pressure, rather than measures that disrupt livelihoods and economic stability.
There are also renewed calls on Igbo leaders, legislators, traditional rulers, business leaders, religious institutions, and Igbo in the diaspora to collectively intervene and work towards ending the sit-at-home. They argue that the responsibility should not rest on Governors alone but on all well-meaning Ndigbo.
Many stakeholders maintain that while other geopolitical zones continue normal economic activities every Monday, the South East is losing ground by shutting down its economy without recording any positive outcome, insisting that the continued observance of sit-at-home no longer makes economic or strategic sense.
