Traders at the Onitsha Main Market and other markets across Anambra State have vowed to bring an end to the Monday sit-at-home and resume full business activities from next Monday, in line with the directive of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.
The commitment was made on Thursday during an interactive meeting between market leaders and the governor, following the prolonged closure of the Onitsha Main Market and the persistent sit-at-home that has severely disrupted economic activities across the South-East.
Speaking after the meeting, the Chairman of the Onitsha Main Market, Chijioke Okpalugo, said traders were ready to reopen on Mondays in support of the governor’s “One Anambra” vision. However, he appealed for strengthened security measures to ensure the safety of traders, customers and their goods.
According to Okpalugo, market leaders requested a sustained and visible security presence within market areas, the full reopening of motor parks to ease the movement of goods and buyers, and firm action against those who profit from or enforce the sit-at-home order.
He said, “Governor Soludo is a listening and progressive leader. We believe he will consider our appeal and reopen the market because he genuinely cares about the welfare of the people.
“We have resolved to resume full trading activities on Mondays. The sit-at-home has caused us enormous financial losses over the years. We fully support the governor’s efforts to end it.”
Addressing the traders, Governor Soludo declared that all markets and shops in Anambra State must operate on every working day, including Mondays, stressing that the era of sit-at-home-induced closures was over.
The governor assured traders that the state government would overhaul its security framework around markets to protect commercial centres from intimidation and harassment. He also presented options for either the complete redevelopment of the Onitsha Main Market into a modern facility or a comprehensive renovation of existing structures.
Soludo insisted that economic activities must continue regardless of the option chosen, describing the enforcement of sit-at-home as a criminal enterprise that has no connection to the agitation for the release of the detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
He said Kanu does not support the sit-at-home order, noting that such restrictions do not take place in Umuahia, his hometown. “If it doesn’t happen there, why should it happen in Onitsha and Nnewi?” the governor asked.
Soludo further alleged that many of those enforcing the sit-at-home were not indigenes of Anambra State and warned that the government would take decisive action if defiance continued.
