Sit-At-Home Crisis, Economic Costs and Soludo’s Tough New Measures in Anambra
By Matthew Eloyi
Anambra State Governor Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has ordered the immediate closure of the Onitsha Main Market for one week in response to traders largely defying government directives to operate on Mondays despite ongoing sit-at-home observance across the state’s commercial hub. The drastic measure signals a growing impatience with a weekly shutdown that has weakened the local economy and disrupted public life.
The sit-at-home directive in Anambra and the broader South-East region traces back to August 2021, when the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) initially imposed a weekly shutdown on Mondays to pressure the Nigerian government over the detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The shutdown was intended as a symbolic show of solidarity, but over time it became enforced through intimidation by non-state actors and armed groups, with fear of reprisals keeping many residents indoors.
Though IPOB has at various times claimed to have suspended or softened its enforcement, compliance remains high in many areas because of lingering insecurity and the presence of armed enforcers who target those seen to defy the order. This has kept markets, schools, offices and transport networks largely dormant at the start of each week, particularly in key trading centres such as Onitsha.
The economic toll of the Monday sit-at-home has been substantial. Independent reports estimate that South-East Nigeria lost around ₦7.6 trillion over four years due to these weekly shutdowns, with Onitsha — one of West Africa’s busiest markets — particularly affected.
According to research by the Anambra State Chamber of Commerce and academic assessments, weekly closures have stifled local revenue, disrupted supply chains, and inflated costs for essential goods, while numerous micro, small and medium enterprises operate below capacity or suspend work entirely to avoid conflict on Mondays.
One earlier estimate attributes billions of naira in lost revenue each Monday in Anambra alone, including direct losses to traders, transport operators and related informal sector workers whose livelihoods depend on weekly commerce.
The consequences extend beyond direct financial losses. Healthy economic activity depends on predictability and open markets; repeated closures undermine investor confidence and reduce productivity, affecting everything from tax revenue to job creation. Banks, schools and public services also feel the strain, slowing government functions and public service delivery.
Governor Soludo has grown increasingly assertive in rejecting the sit-at-home as an acceptable mode of protest. During his visit to the Onitsha Main Market, he stated that traders’ persistence in staying closed defied official directives and undermined economic life. The one-week market closure, and the threat of progressively longer sanctions if normal trading does not resume, is intended to test who “controls time and economic life” in the Southeast.
Beyond the market shutdown, the Anambra Government has moved to abolish the Monday sit-at-home and is enforcing pro-rata salary payments for civil servants who fail to resume work on Mondays, effectively linking pay to attendance. In some directives, teachers and public workers who fail to report on Mondays now risk salary reductions or forfeiture altogether.
These measures reflect a broader shift in state policy from accommodation to enforcement: instead of accepting voluntary closures, the government is signalling that normal economic and civic life must resume or face sanctions. This includes heightened security presence and efforts to reassure traders that it is safe to operate on Mondays.
While the sit-at-home began as a form of protest, its enforcement by non-state actors has been linked to heightened insecurity and violence in the region. Numerous deaths and attacks associated with enforcement activities have been reported, creating an atmosphere of fear that reinforces compliance even in areas where the original political impetus has weakened.
IPOB representatives, however, continue to defend the sit-at-home as peaceful civil protest and have criticised penalties imposed on citizens who choose to observe it, urging dialogue and restraint in resolving underlying grievances
The sit-at-home phenomenon in Anambra has grown far beyond a symbolic protest; it has become an entrenched weekly economic drag, costing markets, state revenue, businesses and ordinary citizens dearly. Governor Soludo’s recent orders, including the temporary closure of Onitsha Main Market and punitive measures for non-compliance, underscore a growing impatience with disruption and a strategic bid to reclaim economic life in the state. Whether these policies will finally break the cycle and restore consistent Monday commerce remains a pivotal question for Anambra’s economic recovery and social stability.
