Anambra State governor, Chukwuma Soludo, on Monday, arrived in Onitsha and chatted with traders at the Main Market as shops reopened and commercial activities resumed, marking a significant return to business after years of Monday sit-at-home disruptions in the state.
The reopening of the Onitsha Main Market signalled renewed commercial activities, with traders opening their shops following the state government’s directive to end the sit-at-home and restore everyday economic life.
Soludo’s arrival at the market attracted large crowds of traders, shoppers and journalists.
During his tour of parts of the commercial hub, the governor was seen engaging traders in friendly conversations amid cheers.
At one point, Soludo jokingly bargained over the price of an item and told a trader, “You’re trying to cheat me, I am from the street o,” drawing laughter and excitement from those around.
Monday’s development indicated growing compliance with the state government’s directive to resume business activities, particularly in Onitsha, one of Nigeria’s largest trading centres and a critical driver of the Anambra economy.
LEADERSHIP reports that the Monday sit-at-home in Anambra State and other parts of the South-East began in 2021 following directives by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which initially called for residents to stay indoors to protest the detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Although IPOB later announced the suspension of the order, however, fear of attacks and sporadic enforcement by non-state actors led many traders to continue observing the sit-at-home.
Last week, despite assurances by the Anambra State Government of improved security, traders at the Onitsha Main Market again stayed away from their shops on Monday, prompting Governor Soludo to order the shutdown of the market and warned that continued defiance would attract stricter sanctions.
