An estimated N7.6 trillion in productivity, prospective investments, and loss of lives and property has been wasted in the southeast region of Nigeria over the last two years as a result of weekly sit-at-home exercises practiced on Monday.
According to newsmen Since the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) began the practice in 2021 to protest the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, the weekly sit-at-home action has been observed practically every Monday in the region.
This site recognizes that the exercise will be two years old on August 9. 105 Mondays out of the 730 days have been lost in terms of productivity or actual economic activity.
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Various holidays have been declared for the remaining 415 days that are scheduled to be used for work.
An analysis conducted in May this year by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) on the region’s economy owing to sit-at-home indicated a massive N5.375 trillion loss by businesses between August 9, 2021, and December 19, 2022.
Dr Chiwuike Uba, an Economic and Financial Expert, told The Guardian that Southeast had lost “approximately N7.646 trillion between August 2021 and July 2023, having lost 101 days during that period.”
He remarked that the southeast’s economy is suffering as a result of the mandatory 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.
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According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the southeast region has the lowest revenue profile.
According to NBS data on the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of various state governments in the country for the first quarter of 2021, the southeast region generated around N53 billion in the following order: Abia is worth N7.550 billion, Anambra is at N12.773 billion, Enugu is worth N14.140 billion, Ebonyi is worth N7.753 billion, and Imo is about N9.991 billion.
This was a few days before the start of the zone’s Monday sit-at-home.
None of the zone’s states met their revenue objectives the previous year.
A assessment of the expected IGR of states in the first quarter of 2023 by Dataphyte, a media, research, and data analytics group, revealed that, aside from Anambra state, which achieved 27 percent of its projected revenue, other states in the region, including Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi states generated below 15 per cent of their projected internal revenue.
According to NBS data, none of the states in the zone met their revenue targets the previous year.
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Remember that the Anambra state governor, Prof Charles Soludo, claimed during his inauguration on March 17, 2022, that every day the indigent masses of the state lose up to N19.6 billion.
He had named craftsmen, Keke drivers, vulcanizers, hairdressers, cart pushers, tiny dealers, bricklayers, ladies frying akara, and all who rely on daily toil and sweat to feed their families in this category.
Peter Mbah, the newly elected governor of Enugu State, has recently threatened workers, schools, and market vendors with a ban on the practice, which he plans to implement in June 2023.
Mbah had stated that the state was losing N10 billion every Monday that citizens observed sit-at-home in the state, stressing that the tendency was jeopardizing his administration’s $30 billion GDP estimate.
The governor stated “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.
“There are consequences for not heeding our orders. Going forward, I want to put you on notice. I will go around the state again on Monday (July 24). We are going to come with the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority to put a seal on any shop that is found locked on Monday because of the illegal sit-at-home. We will take it that you are not ready to do business.
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“We are going to revoke your license to operate. We will revoke your shop title and reallocate it to someone else, who is ready to do business. This is something we must enforce with effect from Monday next week.
“It should never be heard that we were cowed because of the threat of violence by these criminals, the poverty that will befall us for sitting at home will kill us even faster.
“We are losing over N10bn every Monday that we sit at home. Enough is enough. This foolishness must end, and it must end now. We cannot marginalise ourselves and still complain of marginalisation.
“So, we must say no to sit-at-home because what it means is that we are destroying our employment, our economy, and our GDP. We must erase it from our memories. We should see it as our shameful past, which we do not want to remember. We must put it behind us and forge ahead, ensuring that we work every working day of the week.”
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