A South-East group, Concerned Igbo Stakeholders Forum, has urged on South-East governors to take responsibility and joint action to stop parallel government leading to continuous sit-at-home in the zone.
The group called on the governors to convene an emergency meeting within themselves in the next 48-hour and follow it up with a multi-stakeholder consultative forum, with intent to generate actionable ideas that would douse rising tensions.
The leader of the Forum, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, said this in a conference held in Enugu on Wednesday on the “Disruptive Nature of Sit–At-Home Order and its Socio-economic Impact on the People”.
It would be recalled that about a month ago, the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) issued out a weekly Sit–at-Home order, which they christened: “Ghost Monday”.
The IPOB group, however, had allegedly said that it had withdrawn the order but hoodlums had already hijacked the situation terrorism the people with sporadic violence and fake/tailored viral social media posts.
Okenwa said that the continued sit-at-home had dire economic consequences on businesses, adding that many Igbos that depend on daily earnings now have to go hungry for some days of the week because of shutdown on businesses.
He noted that coincidentally also the NECO Mathematics and the WAEC English language examinations fell on Mondays and these came at a cost to the students.
According to him, most students have to trek over 10-kilometer to get to catch up with their examinations, because the commuters were unavailable. A good number of candidates have to miss their examinations.
The positions of the forum are as follows: “The region cannot afford to lose out on its economic viability, which largely depends on the Internally Generated Revenues, in the face of present economic crisis.
“Continued compliance with the sit-at-home order will further stifle life out of the region’s economy. We cannot afford to lose out on the gains of the first day of economic activity in the region.
“What is even more worrisome is the fact that the collapse of economic activities on Mondays is gradually being extended to other days of the week.
“This is a terrible development and a threat that might lead to complete collapse of economic activities in our region, should nothing be done to stem the tide.
“We would love to observe that whilst some in the region comply with the sit-at-home order in solidarity with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the incarcerated leader of IPOB; others comply due to concerns for their safety.
“Though some of Ndi-Igbo, who fell within this category share some sentiments with the embattled IPOB leader, they are however more concerned with how the sit-at-home is fast diminishing their ability to take care of their families.
“We wish to observe with disappointment that the compliance of Ndi-Igbo to sit-at-home despite the assurances of some governors for indigenes to go about their businesses leaves us with the question:
“Is the sit-at-home instruction by the proscribed IPOB group more powerful than the go-to-work order by constituted authorities of the five states in the region?
“This indeed is suggestive of a leadership gap in the South-East and necessity is laid on the South-East governors to demonstrate to us that there is no parallel government in the zone,” he said.
He noted that some governors of the South-East i.e. Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra and Gov.Dave Umahi of Ebonyi have issued orders with corresponding threats of consequences of non-compliance.
“But, we wish to remind them that threat and the use of force cannot handle what dialogue is designed to handle.
“The level of low compliance to the governors’ directives despite threats confirms that a psychological operation to win back the hearts and confidence of the people will be far more reaching,” he said.
He said that the South-East governors must act fast to ensure that a region known for peace and economic progress does not descend further into anarchy.
“Dialogue and a possibly impressing on the Federal Government to consider amnesty for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other IPOB members in various cells across the country should be esteemed as an option,” he added.
The forum have Nnenna Anozie has its Secretary; Mr Chiagozie Nwabuko (Abia State); Mr Wilfred Okeke (Anambra State); Prince Ozioma Ani (Enugu State); Mr Chima Vincent (Ebonyi State) and Mr Chidimma Ibemere (Imo State).
