Elders, representatives of various institutions, organisations, and groups, government officials, and leaders of security services have backed Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah’s ban Monday sit-at-home.
They said that it hurts productivity, investment, and the Igbo spirit of creativity, entrepreneurship, and commerce.
As a result, the general population was asked to go about their everyday lives on Mondays.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a town hall meeting in Enugu.
The statement was signed by the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ammani, Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Most Revd Emmanuel Chukwuma, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Enugu State, Rev. Emmanuel Edeh, Coordinating Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Enugu State, Ugo Ukwueze, Coordinator of Financial Institutions in Enugu State and Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu for the Enugu state Traditional Rulers Council among others.
According to the communiqué, the stakeholders “equally gave their total support to any security measure or measures and other steps the state government deems necessary to end the Monday sit-at-home and get people back to work in the overall interest of the state and its residents”.
Speaking at the event, Mbah said the state loses N10 billion every Monday to sit-at-home, saying the $30 billion Gross Domestic Product,GDP, target of his administration may not be realised.
He said: “If we take the impact the Monday sit-at-home has on our GDP, you will begin to see why it is almost impossible for all of us.
“We have proposed to grow our GDP from the current level of $4.4 billion to $30 billion. That growth is going to come from the private sector. And the private sector will not come to Enugu to site their business if they know that we do not have five workdays, which is obtainable elsewhere.”
On his part, Amani said the South-East region has so far lost more than N5.375 trillion to sit-at-home, urging people to go about their lawful businesses.
The state police boss noted that heads of security agencies have “galvanized the personnel, operational and intelligence resources and deployed them towards ensuring adequate security of the people.’’