When Elders Lead Campaign against Economic Strangulation

Until the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, cried out last week, it is believed that the anarchy caused by secessionist agitators in the South–east has so far robbed the zone of over N50 billion and further destroying the economy, Festus Akanbi writes

I ndeed, the resilience, ingenuity, and shrewdness of the Igbo people in the area of entrepreneurship have remained their main survival strategy in any part of the world they find themselves in.

This is why, despite the indisputable political marginalisation of the Igbo people of the South-east region of the country, their business acumen has created a situation that whenever they sneeze, the whole country tends to catch the proverbial cold.

Indeed, the Igbo people are hardworking, enterprising, and republican; they are independent and they protest anything that will restrict their freedom and business liberty.

This is why the dispensation of the sit-at-home order of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is generating a groundswell of opposition being led by the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

The President-General of the group, Prof George Obiozor, on the occasion of the annual celebration of Igbo Day, appealed for a return to normalcy in Igboland. According to him, IPOB leaders should take note of the danger violence has posed in Igboland, adding that the South-east geopolitical zone “must avoid being a race that has voluntarily chosen to perish in violence and insecurity”.

Obiozor, in a statement titled, ‘Stop Anarchy In Igbo Land, Go For Dialogue’, said what is happening in Igboland today – Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi States – is not liberation but destruction and devastation.

Sit-at-Home Order is Killing Business

As IPOB continues to flex its muscles, narratives in the region are turning into an outright condemnation of its activities which are said to have impoverished the people it claimed to be fighting for.

Agency reports last week quoted some small-scale business promoters in Enugu and Ebonyi states lamenting that the sit-at-home order is killing their businesses. For instance, a commercial motorist, Okechukwu Nnaji, based in Abakaliki told NAN that motorists started experiencing poor patronage from commuters on May 28.

“As I speak with you, I have not gotten N2,000 for three days now, I normally make N8,000 daily.

“I don’t know how to feed my family if things do not improve soon,” he said.

A food vendor, Angela Eze popularly known as (Mama Africa) expressed worry that the situation might affect the economy of the state drastically.

She appealed to the government to use diplomacy and find a lasting solution to the problem.

In some states in the South-east, Monday has become an unofficial public holiday. Banks’ premises are shut while activities in institutions of higher learning are suspended.

Imo State University, Owerri, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, are deserted on Mondays too.

Commercial banks on Afikpo Road, Abakaliki, and Ogoja Road, among other places visited in Ebonyi State by our correspondents last Monday were locked.

Reports from Enugu, and Aba were not different as commercial banks were said to be under lock and keys for fear of being attacked by the enforcers of the sit-at-home order.

Transport companies have continued to suffer deadly blows because some of the major transport companies in Nigeria are largely owned by Igbo businessmen and women.

According to them, they decided to close business every Monday because enforcers of the sit-at-home order allegedly targeted their vehicles, vandalised, and burnt them while also killing some of their passengers.

During the period, banks, markets, shopping malls, eateries, and shops remained locked. Schools, mechanic workshops, recreational centres, and churches were also under lock and key.

Some traders that spoke under the condition of anonymity said the issues of killings, beheading, and burning of commercial buses linked to the enforcers of the sit-at-home order were enough reasons for them to stay at home to avoid being attacked.

Orgy of Destruction…

Somewhere in Enugu township, a vehicle conveying food items including vegetables and tomatoes was burnt down Monday, September 27, by some individuals suspected to be the enforcers of the controversial sit-at-home-order. The owner of the consignment was lucky to escape lynching, but he is today hiding somewhere where he is sulking over his losses.

A similar dastardly act was committed in the early hours of Monday, September 6, when a truck laden with motor spare parts heading to Kogi State but parked at the Eluagu Obukpa area of Nsukka in Enugu State, was set ablaze by persons suspected to be enforcing the sit-at-home order.

The violence is described as a deterrence for the violation of the sit-at-home order being implemented to protest the arrest and detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

It was an order which came with the threat of violence and destruction of properties of violators but the Ohanaeze Ndigbo cautioned that the atmosphere of fear, insecurity and destruction being played out will further destroy the economy of the five states of the region.

Renewed Threats

As traders, proprietors of schools, hotels, banks, and other corporate organisations in the South-east continue to count their losses, and amidst strong condemnations of the atmosphere of fear and intimidation playing out in the region, IPOB recently raised the bar of anarchy when it declared another sit-at-home-order for October 1st, insisting there wouldn’t be any movement in the land. It didn’t stop at that, the organisation also forbids the use of the Nigerian flag in all the five states of the Southeast region from September 25.

“IPOB has declared from today 25th September 2021 that all Nigerian flag mounted anywhere in Biafra land must be brought down, Banks exceptional. IPOB leadership will communicate to banks directly and give them the reason they must peacefully bring down Nigeria flag in their banking premises before we do it ourselves in our way,” a statement from the group said.

Over N50 billion Lost to Sit-at-Home Order

First Vice President of Nnewi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture

(NCCIMA), Chief Moses Ezukwo, said the development has robbed the zone of over N50 billion so far; adding that the loss in the private sector amounted to over 60 per cent.

On his part, President General of Anambra State Market Amalgamated Association (ASMATA), Chief Ikechukwu Ekwegbalu alleged that hoodlums have hijacked the exercise.

He said: “In Anambra State, all the major markets opened for business but we did not see any trader or customer in the market. The entire markets were deserted due to fear of attack or robbery.

Economic analysts said apart from the North-east and North-west which have lost their economic strength to insurgency and banditry, the South-east is another region that will live with the scars of economic sabotage for a long time.

They explained that given the fact that the nation’s country is just stabilising after the economic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing people, (who rely on daily activities), off the roads on Mondays will further cripple the economy of the region.

The case of the South-east is worsened by the fact that the informal sector forms the largest chunk of the economy of Igboland.

Enough is Enough

Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani who toed this line, therefore, canvassed the discontinuance of the sit-at-home as a result of the continuous damage to the economy and psyche of the Igbo people.

He said: “Most of our people live on the daily income. Think of the market women who depend on daily earnings to feed their families. Think of students writing external examinations being denied access to the venues.

“How does enslaving our people, denial of means of livelihood add value to our quest for equity and justice? If others reject us, should we also reject ourselves?

“It stands to reason that this sit-at-home cannot be a way forward. We cannot abandon ourselves. In our struggle for equity and justice in the Nigerian federation, we cannot inadvertently inflict more injuries on ourselves by this sit-at-home. Let wise counsel prevail.”

On his part, former Minister of Information, who was also director-general of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Frank Nweke raised the alarm that the sit-at-home order is having a negative economic impact on jobs and businesses in the southeast.

“First of all, the economy is not doing well. We have just gone through the impacts of COVID, there is misgovernance, corruption. This economy is not in the best place at the moment.

“There is already hunger in the land. The majority of our people are at the lower rungs of society. They live from hand to mouth. There are families in this country unless they go to the market daily, or do a day’s job, they are not able to feed their families.

“So, when you say sit-at-home, what do you expect them to do? How long do you think you can retain the love and loyalty of such people? Time will tell. But it is a failure of the government. State governments must take full responsibility for their inability to manage this situation,” Nweke stated.

Apart from political office holders, religious leaders have also joined the campaign to restore normalcy in the Southeast region. Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, in his intervention, called on all pro-Biafra groups to have a rethink on the continued lockdown since it will further impoverish the people, who are mostly traders and create more hunger in the land.

According to him, Igbo in the South-east “just struggle each day to make a living and have something to put bread on their tables. The move will be unfair to us, Ndigbo, who are engaged in various businesses. If carried out, it is wrong. Since when you are locking up your zone or region, other zones will be engaging in their businesses and daily human activities meant for their growth and progress.

“It is a way of destroying the economy of our brothers. We must be very careful in the way we are going about it. I also do not support it as many of our traders are in trouble already due to the COVID-19 lockdown and what they lost”, the fiery cleric said, and urged the pro-Biafra elements to review locking down the region every Monday”, Chukwuma urged.

The angry youths may have a genuine case of marginalisation against the federal government, but all is said and done, there is a need to jettison the recourse to anarchy and activities that are already destroying the economic lives of the people they claimed to be protecting.