Uchechukwu Okoroafor, Abuja
Recently, the highest ranking person of Igbo extraction in governance in Nigeria in this dispensation and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, said that observance of sit-at-home, unknown gunmen, and other social vices is alien and abhorrent to Igboland socially, economically, and culturally.
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In a statement issued by his office, the Deputy Speaker revealed that his office has unveiled a mechanism that will ultimately end insecurity in the south-east and restore normalcy in the economic and social life of Ndigbo.
Unveiling the mechanism for the Peace in the South East (PISE) project, he said that soon his office, in agreement with all the lawmakers from the region, irrespective of the political parties, will reach out to the state governors and other critical stakeholders for the launch and implementation of the project.
He also said that the project will feature regional security integration and political leadership that will streamline an agenda for the promotion of the Igbo cause and growth in terms of infrastructure.
Kalu made the revelations during a courtesy call on him by the national leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural group led by its President General, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, and bemoaned the insecurity in the south-east.
He added that the sit-at-home observed in the region every Monday has crippled businesses and left the region empty.
Kalu, who vehemently objected to the sit-at-home order, stated that Ndigbo must extend their handshakes across the federation to restore confidence.
The Deputy Speaker also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his benevolence to Ndigbo by ensuring that the people of the south-east were accorded a place in the political hierarchy of the country.
Kalu also remarked on his cordial relationship with the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, saying he would be delighted to accommodate the requests of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in stamping out insecurity in the south-east.
He harped on the imperative to draw a clear distinction between a legitimate call for justice, equity, and fairness against criminal activities, adding that there is a difference between the two of them.
He had noted that criminal activities cannot be taken to mean a legitimate call, insisting that secession is not a legitimate call and adding that Ndigbo want to remain as part of one Nigeria.
“It is a distinction that our people must be able to make. And together, we must ensure that the line is firmly drawn. The Igbo community has always been at the forefront of nation-building and positive change. Go to any part of Nigeria; if you don’t see an Igbo man there, it means that the place is not progressing; it means that the place is not prosperous. We are everywhere; nobody is as patriotic as the Igbo man,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker was right to note that Ndigbo are not known for self-destruction, which is evident in the idea of sit-at-home or unknown gunmen, because it is not a thing that is natural to Ndigbo. “It is not our thing. It is alien to us. We don’t kill each other. We love our trade, and we love our farms. We don’t sit at home.
“Sitting at home is for lazy people. Igbo people are not lazy people. Those in support of sit-at-home are not Igbos.
“There is no true son of the soil of Igbo land that would support laziness and call it a strategy for secession. If you sit at home, you are a lazy man. Igbos are not known to be lazy. We are industrious, we are entrepreneurs, and we work hard to succeed.
“The tradition of collective action and communalism has been a hallmark of the Igbo people throughout history, from building schools and hospitals to markets and farms. We are not known for self-destruction, which is evident in the idea of “sit-at-home” or unknown gunmen. These tendencies are alien and abhorrent to how the Igbos are constituted socially, culturally, and economically.”
Earlier in his presentation, the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, called for the release of the leader of the banned Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, saying it will help restore peace in the South East.
“Ohanaeze has decided that we want Nnamdi Kanu released. We think that every effort should be made to release Nnamdi Kanu. If he’s released, it’s going to make it easy for us”, he said.
There is no doubt that whoever came up with the idea of sitting at home in the South East every Monday is an enemy of Ndigbo, for there is no justification for it. It was a self-inflicted disaster that would take several decades to overcome. It had made nonsense of the legitimate complaint of marginalization and exclusion at the top echelon of Nigerian governance. Ndigbo has moved from complaining about marginalization meted out to them at the federal level to self-marginalization in the form of sit-at-home, unknown gunmen, killings, maiming, and all kinds of anti-social behavior in the name of struggle for Biafra and for the release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kalu. And the cost has been huge for the economy of the region.
Investigation has shown that since the Monday sit-at-home started, productivity has seriously dwindled in the region; jobs are threatened; there is a loss of confidence by investors; insecurity has increased; and there is a near collapse in the infrastructure of the region with the attendant spike in social vices.
Despite assurances from the new governors, the people have remained adamant and stayed indoors to avoid becoming victims of the lawless groups enforcing the sit-at-home order.
An investigation sponsored by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) published in May this year on the economy of the region as a result of sit-at-home revealed a whopping N5.375 trillion loss by businesses between August 9, 2021, and December 19, 2022.
But an economic and financial expert, Dr. Chiwuike Uba, stated that the southeast had lost “approximately N7.646 trillion between August 2021 and July 2023, having lost 101 days within the period”.
He stated that it was incontrovertible that the economy of the southeast is bleeding from the compulsory Monday sit-at-home.
“It is important to note that the amount may be higher when all the direct and indirect costs of the sit-at-home are included in the basket. The current figure represents mainly the losses of microenterprises in the region. The social and economic costs of deaths, destruction of properties, and other costs are not included in the total economic loss to the region”, he stated.
Checks with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the southeast region remains the region with the lowest revenue profile.
The Bureau’s data on the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of various state governments in the country for the first quarter of 2021 indicated that the southeast region generated about N53 billion in the following order: Abia N7.550b; Anambra N12.773b; Enugu N14.140b; Ebonyi N7.753b; and Imo N9.991b. This was a few days before the commencement of the Monday sit-at-home in the zone.
These statistics should worry people in the South East who have been held hostage by non-state actors who appear unconcerned about the crippling of the region’s economy. It is time for those pushing for this agenda to listen to voices of reason like the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, and the state governors who have been doing their bit to stop the economic hemorrhage bleeding the region to certain economic death, occasioned by sit-at-home and unknown gunmen!