The governor of Enugu State, Barr Peter Mbah, toured various parts of the state capital on Monday to verify compliance with the ban on illegal sit-at-home announced by some non-state actors.
This was despite the fact that Enugu traders and citizens told the governor that they were tired of sitting at home, describing the situation as a plague that was destroying their enterprises and family economies.
While praising the level of compliance in most places visited, Mbah, who was at the Spar Mall, Roban Stores on Bisalla Road, Market Square, Shoprite, Zenith Bank on Ogui Road, Celebrities, Ogbete Market, Garki Awkunanaw Market, Mayor Market, Abakpa Market, and the State Secretariat, among others, warned traders, who have been sitting at home since Monday, 24th July stood to lose their shops to serious-minded businessmen.
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He said adequate security had been provided, observing that there had not been any incident of attack since the ban on sit-at-home in June.
Mbah, who took time to interact with business owners, shoppers, traders as well as civil servants at the State Secretariat, said “it should never be heard that we were cowed because of the threat of violence by these criminals”, noting that “the poverty that will befall us for sitting at home will kill us even faster”.
“We are losing over N10bn every Monday that we sit at home. Enough is enough. This foolishness must end and it must end now. We cannot be marginalising ourselves and still complain of marginalisation.
“So, we must say no to sit-at-home because what it means is that we are destroying our employment, our economy, and our GDP. We must erase it from our memories. We should see it as our shameful past, which we do not want to remember. We must put it behind us and forge ahead, ensuring that we work every working day of the week”, he urged Enugu people.
To the traders at Ogbete, Garki, and other markets, he warned that locking shops on Mondays would no longer be condoned.
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“But you know, there are also consequences for not heeding our orders. Going forward, I want to put you on notice. I will go around the state again on Monday next week. We are going to come with the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority to put a seal on any shop that is found locked on Monday because of the illegal sit-at-home. We will take it that you are not ready to do business.
“We are going to revoke your license to operate. We will revoke your shop title and reallocate it to someone else, who is ready to do business. This is something we must enforce with effect from Monday next week”, he warned.
Meanwhile, market leaders and business owners have told the governor that they are now fully prepared for complete compliance, claiming that they are sick and weary of sitting at home on Mondays.
At the meeting with the Ogbete traders, Comrade Stephen Aniagu, President of the Enugu State Amalgamated Traders Association, told the governor that they had already decided to resume full operations, stating that all stores will be open on Monday.
Bernard Anike, the leader of Abakpa Nike Market, also assured the governor that they had begun to comply with the sit-at-home restriction.
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Meanwhile, Richard Emeka Ezeh, a development economist, praised Mbah’s determined efforts to abolish sit-at-home.
“I’m surprised to see the governor here. I like it that he is going round to sensitise the people on why they should come out.
“Employers of labour were losing so much money to sit-at-home. The economy cannot grow when we are losing N10 billion every Monday. As a development economist, I know that the private sector drives every economy, but the private sector cannot thrive in a place where people sit at home.
“So, let’s continue to convene town hall meetings, engage the youths, engage the artisans, and continue to sensitise the market women,” he said.
On her part, Chioma Nwagu, said the sit-at-home was killing the economy.
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“We have to come out to do our business. We can’t feed ourselves while staying at home. We have to come out and do our businesses,” she stated.
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