. Onitsha main market Chairman adamant
. sit-at-home has come to stay for diverse reasons – traders
By Chuks Eke
Barely a week after Governor Soludo of Anambra state directed traders to end sit-at-home mentality and begin to open their shops at Onitsha main market and other major markets in Onitsha for trading activities, only few traders at Onitsha main market responded and opened their shops on Monday.
The few traders which could be established at less than 20 percent of the entire population of traders at the market opened their shops but there were no custmers to patronize them due absence of customers from far and near.
An on-thespot visit at the market showed that only about three shops in each line of the large espance of the market were open as from 10 a.m. till about 5 p.m. the normal closing time.
Chairman of the market, Chijiioke Okpalugo could not attend to newsmen in his office as according to him he had nothing to say about the situation on ground.
One of the traders who identified himself as Emeka Ozigbo told newsmen that it would take quite some for the traders to adjust themselves and start opening their shops on Mondays because some of the have picked Mondsys as either a day of rest or avday of meetings.
According to Ozigbo, most traders are still afraid of the non state actors because according to them, the non state actors might be more brutal this time around than before Soludo ordered the closure of the market for one week, while some traders are still bent on showing solidarity to Nnamdi Kanu, despite the fact that IPoB has equally distanced itself from Monday sit-at-home.
Some of the traders were heard saying that Monday sit-at-home has come to stay, inspite of all odds, adding that those who want to abolish sit-at-home entirely should channel their resources towards releasing Nnamdi Kanu from detention.
A legal practitioner in Onitsha,11 O. J. Obasi Esq, in his own opinion, declared,: “before the announcement of one week closure of the Onitsha main market, by Governor Soludo, people have been going about their businesses without any form of fear but following the proclamation of the governor, fear and uncertainty crept in and started scaring the traders the more”.
Obasi however stated: “people are wiser now. Nobody wants to be caught in any web of chaos. My advice to the government at all levels and those who would like to sow seeds of discord is to allow us breath. Our people are hardworking.
Great percentage of the people go about their normal businesses until we found ourselves in this web”.
