HOW IS IT THE BUSINESS OF A GOVERNOR IF PEOPLE CHOOSE TO CLOSE THEIR SHOPS?

Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, PhD

That’s the question people have been asking over Governor Soludo’s well thought out idea of abolishing Monday Sit-at-home in Onitsha and the entire Anambra State. That question sounds very logical on the face of it, but it’s certainly not as sensible as it sounds.

The governor couldn’t have gone to people’s shops to force them to open up, if a few people choose to stay at home some days without opening their shops, for one personal reason or the other, but when it is obvious that it is an organised affront against the authority of the State, the governor has a responsibility to assert the authority of the State in every section of the market.

He is the chief executive officer and the chief security officer as well as the chief welfare officer of the State, hence he should be concerned if some individuals decide to disrupt the economic activities of the State in advancement of some illegal adventures. The closure of the Onitsha Main Market or any other market in any part of the Southeast without the direct instruction of the State government, is a sabotage against the economy of the State and the zone, and the governor is tight to insist that those markets are opened.

Those who do not want to do business on Mondays can permanently shut down their shops, so that those who are ready to do business can go ahead and take over those shops and do their business.

More than 90% of those who lock up their shops on Mondays do that out of fear and intimidation rather than out of any voluntary solidarity with some terrorist and his group. These individuals need to be made to understand that they can no longer stay at home, thereby, ruining the economy of an entire zone through a senseless order, especially, given that the government has done its bit by providing security and guaranteeing the safety of these traders and their customers by eliminating the hoodlums who hitherto threatened their lives.

In the last three or so years since this senseless Sit-at-home started, billions of Naira have been lost in revenue to State governments, business opportunities have been lost and trade in the Southeast has taken a big blow from this economic sabotage.

A governor who is alive to his responsibility cannot fold his arms and watch this continue, and no amount of media attack should make the governor rescind this order. I will also advise that starting from next Monday, shops that are closed to business should have their tenancy or ownership revoked or alternatively, a heavy levy should be introduced to penalise those who decide to sit at home on Mondays while some incentives should be offered to all shop owners and businesses that open their shops on Mondays.

For instance, the governor can decide that all shops that open on Mondays shall not pay tax for six months, as long as they open their shops constantly for that period, while those who do not open their shops on Mondays must pay a certain amount as fine for any Monday that their shops are locked. We cannot continue to condone this economic sabotage and obvious silliness.

Alaigbo Must Heal!