There are concerns that the nearly N6 trillion budget set out by the southeast governors for this year may be undermined if the continued Monday sit-at-home order in the region is not reversed.

Although those who declared the order to demand the release of the now jailed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, had long suspended the action and efforts made by governors of the five states to restore full activities on Monday, checks by The Guardian indicated that the unlawful directive has continued into this year.

Recall that the indefinite weekly sit-at-home order in Nigeria’s South East region, issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), officially began on August 9, 2021.

As part of the state government’s commitment to increasing economic activities of the region through a more robust public infrastructure development, the five states plan to spend N5.7 trillion this year, with the governors pledging to dedicate much of the money to critical infrastructure development.

Enugu state government has the biggest spending envelope, having passed its N1.62 trillion appropriation into law. This is followed by the Imo state government with N1.44 trillion.

Abia and Ebonyi state governments follow with N1.02 trillion and N884 billion, respectively, while Anambra, at N757 billion, has the smallest appropriation.

Whereas the state governments are reviving the engines of the dying regional economy with big public spending, they are also counting on the local economies to raise substantial portions of the revenues.

Of the amounts, it is envisaged that Enugu would raise N870 billion internally; Abia is to raise N223.4 billion internally, while Imo hopes to raise N44.3 billion internally. Ebonyi will raise N97.16 billion internally, while Anambra targets N60 billion.

This puts the total estimated internally-generated revenue (IGR) at N1.3 trillion. The amount is 36 per cent of the total IGR of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2024 and over fourfold of about N300 billion the five states made in the year.

The respective states are eyeing a magical leap in their revenue mobilisation to hit the bull’s eye and give their public spending ambition life.

Stakeholders said to achieve the budget estimates, especially for those over a trillion, each of the states would raise at least N65 billion monthly or N17 billion weekly or about N2.3 billion daily.

But in the first two Mondays of the year, most businesses and offices in the states kept closed doors while a few operated skeletally, casting doubt on the full return of commercial activities to the region.

The state government needs to send strong signals that peace has returned to the region to encourage fleeing businesses to return to the areas.

In the past years, a lot of Southeast businessmen had to relocate to Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and other neighbouring states considered safer as well as Lagos. The trend is said to have incapacitated the revenue drive of many state governments and kneecapped their IGR growth.

Checks by The Guardian at some motor parks, private offices and businesses, including markets, last Monday showed that many of them continue to observe sit-at-home orders. Federal government offices were also closed for fear of attack, heightening the general perception of insecurity in the region.

This continues despite the conclusion of the trial of Kanu and that of the self-proclaimed Biafra Prime Minister, Simeon Ekpa, by the various courts.

While Kanu was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Abuja court in November over terrorism charges filed against him by the Federal Government, Ekpa was jailed by a District Court in Finland.

Ekpa, who was jailed for six years in September, was found guilty on multiple charges of terrorism-related offences, aggravated tax fraud and violations of legal statutes governing attorneys.

Since their sentence, though seriously decimated, they have neither reactivated the sit-at-home order nor any other civil disobedience action to press for their releases nor reversed the directive.

Expressing worry, however, that the sit-at-home trend has continued on Monday, a lawyer, Declan Ibekwe, tasked governors of the region to scale up efforts to fully restore business activities.

Ibekwe, a commercial lawyer, insisted that Mondays are important days of the week no business wants to toil with, stressing that “missing it is like missing every other day of the week”.

He said: “I can’t imagine having a case to attend at a court in Ebonyi State from my base in Abia State on a Monday and being unable to do so because of the fear that there will be no movement, even when such has been declared by nobody. Family and friends will readily advise one not to embark on the journey and to leave it until the next day. This is not a good thing.

“I have stopped going outside my state on Mondays for anything. The implication is that whatever I could have spent on such journeys remains with me. I will not contribute anything outside my state. It is the simplest way to kill the economy, and nobody should encourage it.

“Granted, the governors have made efforts to change the narrative, but this is only evident in the state capitals. For instance, if civil servants in Enugu are working while those in Imo or Abia are not, does that show that the economy is improving? There must be synergy so that when someone needs a service from an office in Abia on a Monday, he gets it without waiting until the next day. I think that this year, the governors should do something to ensure that the trend is completely wiped out in the region,” he added.

Late last year, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Lands, Dr Mathew Nwaobashi, expressed concern that the Monday sit-at-home had not been completely resolved in the region, stressing that it would continue to impede development and economic growth.

Speaking during the signing of agreements for the development of housing units across the five states of the region by a consortium of Igbo businessmen, he said efforts should be intensified to contain the trend in the best interest of the zone.

Singling out Ebonyi State as the only “state where the Monday sit-at-home no longer takes place,” he insisted that the impact on the state’s economy remained minimal as long as other states in the region were not operating.

“This is a trend we must find solutions to if we hope to improve the regional economy and realise our developmental objectives,” he told the gathering.

A management consultant with Licensing and Services Limited, Aba, Dr Jude Onwumere, who described the budgets presented by the five governors as “ambitious and capital-based,” said achieving the targets must be deliberate. He noted that the 2026 fiscal year marked the first time administrations in the region were proposing budgets exceeding one trillion naira, adding that residents must be supportive of the plans to succeed.

“There should not be any day wasted. We must keep our hands and minds busy, knowing that we have targets to meet. If people are still sitting at home on Mondays, the government will have to look elsewhere to make up for the lost revenue. It is difficult to collect revenue for activities that never happened. When a day is lost, it affects subsequent days because activities do not start on time. This is the challenge of an unstable environment.

“What I expect going forward is a situation where there is no disruption in services. Having only state civil servants at work on Mondays cannot come close to achieving these budgets.

“A large portion of the internally generated revenue (IGR) of states in the region comes from the private sector, which determines how and when it operates. Therefore, those responsible must ensure that nothing disrupts the economy this year if these budgets are to be achieved,” he said.

However, the Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ibuchukwu Ezike, while agreeing that the continued sit-at-home would disrupt budget implementation, insisted that no individual, institution, or government could successfully end Biafra agitation or the Monday sit-at-home.

“South-East governors, politicians, and their supporters may claim that the sit-at-home protest has ended, yet every Monday, economic activities remain paralysed. Whenever pro-Biafran movements issue sit-at-home directives, they are obeyed, even as government officials insist the protest has died.

“The continued observance of sit-at-home shows that the Biafran liberation struggle remains alive. No one can stop an idea whose time has come. Contrary to government claims, the boys are in charge. What budget implementation are they talking about? How many governors are implementing people-oriented budgets? Most of them, including those who have impoverished the masses through heavy taxation, execute budgets for themselves, their families, friends, and allies. If they were truly implementing people-focused budgets, would one day in a week derail their objectives?” he asked.

Similarly, the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Uchenna Madu, said the Monday sit-at-home had become a “major phenomenon in Biafra land” and should be factored into government programmes.

“It is no longer under the control of those who call for it. The people of Biafra are now fully in charge of their destinies and mindsets.

“The continuation or end of the sit-at-home lies with the people of Biafra. Ndigbo who lose business and social time consider it a voluntary sacrifice for Biafra’s actualisation and restoration,” he said.

Recall that governors in the region have made several efforts to end the Monday sit-at-home. At one point, Governors Peter Mbah of Enugu State and Prof Charles Soludo of Anambra State said the region was losing up to N10 billion every Monday due to the practice.

They launched campaigns involving increased security presence and free transportation for civil servants to their offices on Mondays. While these measures improved the situation, many residents still stay away from work.

Efforts to reach the governors through the Director-General of the South-East Governors’ Forum, Senator Uche Ekwunife, were unsuccessful, as she neither answered calls nor responded to text messages. The governors have not met for some time. Their last meeting was held in July 2024 in Enugu, where they resolved to meet President Bola Tinubu to press for the release of Kanu. (Guardian)

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