Recently, Anambra Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, ordered market unions at the various markets to compel their members to resume coming to market on Mondays or face sanctions. Soludo’s latest order will be the second time of doing so after the previous one failed to work.
It will be recalled that major markets in the state, especially those in Onitsha and Nnewi, had stopped operating on Mondays for fear of the threat of attack on them by members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, if they flouted their directive of staying at home in sympathy with their detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
But even though Kanu had asked for the cessation of the sit at home, those claiming to be disciples of Kanu have not paid heed to him and have continued to threaten and hurt people who defy their order.
The development which has made people to stay at home on Mondays has taken a big toll on the social and economic activities of the South East Region.
Being that Soludo’s Government has been relying heavily on levies and taxes, it came as little surprise that he has been very worried about the continued adherence to IPOB’S sit at home directive.
Now, Soludo has given a fresh order to market unions to flout IPOB’s sit at home directive and be doing business on Mondays. However, the workability of this remains to be seen for some reasons:
First, many who stay at home do so out of fear, rather than out of compliance to IPOB’s directive.
Second, people believe there is no adequate security for them, if they decide to comply with Soludo’s directive.
The above reasons cannot be wished away, really, as nothing on ground shows any concrete effort by the Anambra State Government to guarantee people’s safety, especially in areas notorious for trouble.
Indeed, some people point to the governor moving about in heavily armed convoy while expecting them to come out without protection. This, they believe, shows that even the governor does not feel safe.
This clearly shows people’s lack of faith in Government. Based on this, we think that Government needs to first of all emplace adequate security measures to boost the confidence of the citizenry which is at a low ebb. We have really not been satisfied with the Government’s efforts so far as words have not been matched by action. It is not enough to order traders back to the markets when the very things they’re scared of are still happening.
The more Government gives orders that are not obeyed, the more the citizenry will not be taking it seriously.
It is instructive that even banks do not operate on Mondays and this is worrisome.
The Government thus, has a lot to do first, before giving anti-sit at home orders. Government should take the fight to the sit at home enforcers and restore confidence in the citizenry.
Anambra remains a hotbed of criminal activities, with many people now resorting to holding their events outside the state. It is therefore, not in this kind of situation that Government should be giving what we deem empty orders.
Until Government satisfactorily handles the terrible security situation in the state, its orders will continue to be ineffective.
