Onitsha Main Market reopened yesterday, Monday, February 2, 2026, in compliance with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s directive to end the five-year-old sit-at-home.
Like many right-thinking people, I believe the governor is right. The IPOB-imposed order has achieved nothing beyond chaos, economic sabotage, and needless human losses – except, of course, for the criminal elements who profit from the paralysis. For them, the suffering must continue until they say otherwise. Even IPOB’s own repudiation of the order meant nothing to these profiteers and their sponsors.
Predictably, propaganda flooded social media yesterday morning. Old videos were recycled to stoke fear and scare desperate traders back into hiding. The propagandist quickly went to town and recorded and shared videos of empty streets and markets, purportedly claiming the traders had defied the governor. The most painful was the resurfacing of the gruesome murder of Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili. I couldn’t help but think of how traumatic it must be for the Akunyili family and friends to see that horror dredged up again – just to intimidate people and sabotage the governor’s effort to restore order. Sadly, many who should know better helped amplify the fear by sharing those videos.
All through last week, and as I waited with bated breath for yesterday’s outcome, one question kept nagging at me: why Onitsha? At the peak of this self-destructive sit-at-home, the entire South-East observed it. Today, most markets in Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo – and even parts of Anambra – have resumed business on Mondays. Only Onitsha Main Market held out. Why? I have no tidy answers. What I do have are solutions.
Now that the market has finally reopened, the government must sustain this momentum. Security must be visible, reliable, and relentless. Trouble-makers and extortionists should be fished out before they terrorize traders into another shutdown. Most genuine traders want to work – they just need a credible security guarantee.
On a lighter note – if some people are determined to “sit at home” every Monday, perhaps the government should help them sit properly. Shut the markets on Mondays, then close them again on Tuesdays for sanitation. Anyone who has driven through the market on a closed day knows the filth and disorder that build and show up. Let traders clean up on Tuesdays and open from Wednesday to Saturday. If they want Mondays for street football, pepper soup, and cold drinks, give them Tuesdays too. I guarantee they’ll come crawling back, begging for mercy. To recover lost revenue, impose a sit-at-home levy on shops. Refuse to pay? Your shop is revoked and resold. Sanity will return – very quickly.
Jokes aside, every right-thinking Anambra person needs to reflect deeply:
Why Onitsha? What has sit-at-home achieved? What will it ever achieve if sustained? We pride ourselves as a wise and industrious people, but this prolonged self-harm calls that claim into question.
Enough of the nonsense. Onitsha must move forward.
Fred
