• Calls for justice, respect for human rights

There are concerns about the inability of Federal Government workers to resume work on Mondays as a way of ending the sit-at-home in the South-East region.
This is as the National Orientation Agency (NOA) called on the governors, traditional rulers, and religious and community leaders to join hands to end Monday’s sit-at-home and insecurity and save the region’s economy.

An activist, Uchechukwu Okafor, told reporters in Enugu that governors’ efforts to restore economic and social activities on Mondays would not yield the required result without the Federal Government workers reciprocating the gesture.

“It is sad that offices belonging to the Federal Government are kept under lock and key every Monday in the region. This seriously negates the efforts to reclaim the region’s economy. I am, therefore, appealing to the federal agencies to see reasons to support the governors and resume duties every Monday. It will be a big boost to whatever is being done now,” she stated.

Addressing reporters in Enugu as part of activities to flag off nationwide sensitisation on World HIV Day, security awareness, discouraging get-rich-quick syndrome and tax reform bills, Director General of the NOA, Mallam Lanre Issac -Onilu, lamented the damage done to the economy of the South-East by the Monday sit-at-home.

He said: “It is unfortunate. Those who instituted this live around us. We should be able to join hands in tackling the problem. The South-East economy is bleeding and has seriously gone down because of sit-at-home. The South-East leaders should sit down and change things for the better.”

Meanwhile, while addressing a press briefing in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, to flag off the campaign on World HIV Day by NOA’s Head of Public Enlightenment and Mass Mobilisation, Mrs. Theresa Maduekwe on behalf of the agency’s DG, residents wondered why governments disobey orders of courts, while detained suspects undergoing investigation pay to be granted bails by security agencies against the assertions that bails are free.

Issac–Onilu described the five-point sensitisation campaign, whose theme is “Promoting Awareness, Ethical Values and National Development,” as critical and central to the nation’s well-being, unity and development.

He said: “Today, we are commencing a nationwide mobilisation of Nigerians to unite in our commitment to addressing these pressing issues and fostering a more informed, secured and ethical society,” adding that the challenges before the nation require collective action and active participation from all Nigerians.

He predicted that the campaign efforts could only be successful when the citizenry stood for justice, respected others’ rights and reported violations to the appropriate authorities.