The fears expressed by some quarters that the gradual return of Monday activities in parts of the Southeast may jeopardize efforts to secure the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, have been described as misplaced.
In some states in the Southeast region, activities were beginning to return in most cities on Mondays, as a result of new security initiatives introduced by the state governments.
For instance, today in Anambra, shops and some private businesses opened to patrons, even though some public offices such as schools, banks and others were yet to open.
Also, vehicular movements have also improved across cities in the state.
Commenting on the development, the State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Surveyor Ambassador Obi Emeka Chukwudi, said the development calls for sustenance, as the region cannot afford to relapse into such sit-at-home again.
Obi posited that the return of Monday activities was due to the genuine efforts of the State Government through the newly introduced ‘Udo Ga Achi’ initiative.
“What is needed for any meaningful development to ensue is security of lives and property. In recent times, we have witnessed peace and stability, with no record of crime, and this has emboldened the people to, once again, come out on Mondays to do their legitimate businesses,” he said.
For his part, the President-General of Anambra State Association of Town Unions, ASATU Youths, Comrade Ken Okoli, agreed that the people now have the confidence to come out because security in the state has improved.
He enthused that the criminals who have hitherto been terrorizing people of the state are now on the run.
A civil Servant, Ngozi Obi, bemoaned the huge loss the state and the Southeast have suffered as a result of the needless sit-at-home, insisting that the state government’s new security operation was responsible for the return of sanity in the state.
For Clara Ibe, a private business owner, the return of the Monday activities, which she said was a welcome development, will not negate Southeast leaders’ efforts to secure the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“Anyone who thinks the return of security and Monday activities in the Southeast will mar efforts to secure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu needs a rethink.
“The question should be- since we have been sitting at home, has he been released?
“In fact, continuing the sit-at-home is tantamount to the region shooting itself in the leg, because the loss we have recorded as a people due to the development cannot be quantified,” she noted.
