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SOLUDO’S BOLD STAND AGAINST THE SIT-AT-HOME ORDER
For years, Mondays in the South-East have been defined by silence, empty streets, shuttered shops, and an economy deliberately paused. What began as a protest tactic gradually morphed into a culture of enforced inactivity, holding millions hostage and bleeding the region dry.
The sit-at-home order has effectively shut down commercial activity across much of the South-East every week. Based on estimates from the National Bureau of Statistics and SMEDAN, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, the region loses approximately N88.08 billion each Monday across trade, transport, banking, and services.
Over 52 Mondays a year, and across the last five years, this translates to an estimated N23 trillion in lost economic activity. This is a staggering drain equivalent to multiple years of combined state budgets in the South East.
Beyond the headline figures lies a deeper crisis. The South-East’s economy is powered largely by small and medium-sized enterprises. Losing one full business day each week effectively reduces productivity by about 20%, forcing many businesses to operate on a four-day cycle instead of five.
For traders, artisans, transporters, and other daily wage earners, it is a weekly loss of livelihood.
The social consequences are equally severe. Students miss classes, academic calendars are disrupted, and learning outcomes suffer.
Investor confidence has waned, with some businesses quietly relocating to more stable regions. Industrial expansion has slowed, leaving the South-East trailing behind other zones in economic growth.
But that narrative is beginning to change. In Anambra State, Governor Chukwuma Soludo has taken a bold and decisive stand against the sit-at-home order, challenging a status quo long sustained by fear and resignation. What once seemed untouchable is now being confronted with resolve.
This is the kind of leadership the moment demands.
For too long, many leaders responded with hesitation, choosing silence, political caution, or outright acquiescence while the region endured both economic decline and human cost. The result was a dangerous normalization of disruption and a steady erosion of prosperity.
Soludo’s approach signals a willingness to look problems straight in the eye and tackle the whole shebang. It echoes the same reformist instinct that defined his role in Nigeria’s banking sector transformation years ago, taking on challenges with clarity and conviction.
However, this cannot be a one-man effort. Restoring normalcy in the South-East requires collective action. Security agencies must stand up to be counted. Political leaders across the region must stop acting like an ostrich. Igbos, both at home and abroad, must align behind the urgent need to reclaim economic and social stability. Support from the federal government will also be critical in sustaining momentum.
The South-East stands at a turning point. Reclaiming Mondays is not just about restoring a lost day of business- it is about restoring confidence, dignity, and the right to pursue daily life without fear.
The time for recovery is now.
And for those watching closely, leadership moments like this do not go unnoticed. When the time comes for the South-East to put forward a credible presidential contender, it must be someone with proven courage and capacity like Soludo, not a pretentious, empty rabble-rousing populist.
On that note, count me in
Chiechefulam Ikebuiro,
