By Abubakar Yunusa
The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has called on market leaders in Anambra State to shun Monday sit-at-home directives and work with Governor Chukwuma Soludo to ensure markets open for business.
In a statement on Tuesday, the OYC National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, urged leaders of markets in Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka to stop locking their gates on Mondays, describing the practice as harmful to the economic survival of Ndigbo.
Igboayaka spoke against the backdrop of the continued disruption of trading activities, particularly at Onitsha Main Market, despite the state government’s resolve to end the sit-at-home.
He said traders should be protected to open their shops without fear of intimidation or threats from criminal gangs “masquerading as enforcers” of the sit-at-home, which he noted had been suspended by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The youth leader warned that any market leadership enforcing Monday closures was acting against the collective interest of the Igbo people.
“Those criminal elements enforcing sit-at-home are enemies of Ndigbo, sponsored to shut down our only means of survival, which is commerce and trading,” he said.
Igboayaka said the Igbo had historically relied on trade, enterprise and apprenticeship, noting that Onitsha Main Market played a central role in rebuilding the economy of the South-East after the civil war.
According to him, Ndigbo demonstrated resilience through self-reliance and entrepreneurship despite post-war economic hardships, adding that shutting markets contradicts that legacy.
He commended Governor Soludo’s decision to permanently end Monday sit-at-home in Anambra, particularly in Onitsha, which he described as the economic heartbeat of Igboland.
“The bold step by Governor Soludo to restore Monday trading deserves the support of every progressive Igbo person,” he said.
Igboayaka also appealed to the leadership of IPOB and its Directorate of State to engage with the Anambra State Government to end the sit-at-home and rein in criminal elements enforcing it.
While admitting that the Soludo administration had not met all expectations, he insisted that opposition to the reopening of markets on Mondays amounted to hostility against the economic wellbeing of Ndigbo.
“Anyone standing against the reopening of markets in Anambra is an enemy of Ndigbo and our economic survival,” he added.
