Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The newly inaugurated Governor of Enugu State, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah formally stepped into the fray on Thursday, June 1, when he boldly pronounced an end to the lingering issue of Sit-at-home which has continued to diminish the economy of the people of Enugu State, nay the South-East region of Nigeria.
Mbah, who made the pronouncement after his maiden security meeting lamented that the Sit-at-home order that began in 2021 as a reaction to the detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the Federal Authorities, had made youths of the state lazy.
The governor said the creativity and sense of industry of Igbos were remarkable as their DNA was wired with commercial and entrepreneurial prowess.
“If this is what we are known by, then it becomes inconsistent with reality that the spirit of entrepreneurship, commerce and creativity are killed every Monday in our land.
“Our restless spirit of industry abhors laxity and indolence.
“The idea behind sitting at home on Monday, the first working and business day of the week, is abominable and antithetical to greatness and the spirit of industry we profess to have inherited from our forebears.
“This cannot be us and it does colossal damage to us,” he said.
The governor added: “For us to transit from a public service economy to a private sector-driven one, we must free our markets from the shackles of restriction to commerce.
“If indeed we aspire and anticipate an influx of private sector practitioners and investors in Enugu State, we must know that this will not happen where the perception of us is that of unproductive people.
“Therefore, those that strike on Mondays, putting restrictions in the way of our Igbo spirit of creativity, cannot be our true representatives. In fact, they kill our spirit.”
However, businesses, entrepreneurship and commerce require a vibrant workforce and big markets where they can flourish and make money.
“To this end, therefore, from Monday June 5, there will be no observance of any sit-at-home in all nook and crannies of Enugu State.
“Government will enforce this with all the powers at its disposal.
“My charge to all of you – market men and women, the corporate world, industries, schools, civil servants, and all strata of workers in Enugu State is for us to take back our sense of industry, pride of place and re-enact our glorious past,” he said.
He added that by heeding the call, “you would have set us on the path of actualising our mandate.”
He, however, expressed government’s readiness to engage in dialogue with people, who had genuine grievances towards bringing lasting peace and security to Enugu State.
Mbah, however, said the release of Kanu was important to the healing of the country.
“I call on our newly sworn in president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to consciously work towards the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“It will also be a pointer to his administration’s extension of brotherly hands of fellowship to Ndigbo,” he said.
In its reaction to Mbah’s ban on sit-at-home, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Friday threatened to make Enugu State ungovernable for Mbah if he goes ahead to carry out his ban on Mondays sit-at-home in the state.
IPOB in a statement signed by it’s acclaimed spokesperson Emma Powerful urged the governor not to allow his enemies turn the state into a theatre of war.
IPOB vowed to make Enugu State tough for him if he allowed his enemies turn the state into a theatre of crisis.
A statement by IPOB reads in part: “We are reminding the new Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mba, to shine his eyes so that the Nigeria Government, through his political enemies, will not turn the peaceful state of Enugu into a theater of crisis.
“If he allows the enemies to use him against IPOB, then we will make Enugu State tough for him to govern.
Meanwhile, since that Mbah’s pronouncement, many residents have been pondering on the reality of Mbah achieving the tall ambition of stopping the sit-at-home in the state.
While many welcomed the pronouncement, some others have reasoned that the governor ought to have approached the situation in a different way.
Reacting to Mbah’s position on sit-at-home, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Dr Alex Ogbonnia said it was “a right step in the right direction.”
He lauded the governor’s bold step, adding that the body would throw it’s weight behind any attempt to bring peace and tranquility in the region.
Mr Eugene Nwachukwu, a current affairs analyst told Ikengaonline that the pronouncement was dead on arrival.
“Yes, I said it is dead on arrival because he has not consulted widely.
“As a democratically elected governor, he should have called a larger stakeholders meeting.
“Market women, Keke riders, bus drivers, lawyers, community leaders, traditional institutions etc to seek their opinions before embarking on such sensitive pronouncement,” Nwachukwu said.
Another resident, Mrs Evelyn Eze, said she was happy for the pronouncement but wants security agencies to be ready to protect the citizens.
“If the Army and Police and other security personnel should come out to patrol on Mondays we will be happy because businesses are going down,” she said.
A security expert, Mr Gideon Edeh, was, however, skeptical about the work-ability of the ban, saying that the security agencies might not cooperate fully.
“The police are even scared of the so-called unknown gunmen. And even if the ban succeeds in Enugu, how about the rural communities?
“They can go to the communities and cause more trouble,” he said.
Mbah’s ban takes effect on Monday June 5, and from then his true test of leadership will surely unfold.
