The fact that residents of Enugu State seemingly ignored the recent directive by Governor Peter Mbah not to obey the latest sit-at-home order by a faction of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the state shows that ending the disruptive all-Monday entrenched practice cannot be achieved by executive fiat.

There is need for all-encompassing efforts that will address the origin of the problem and the complications that have been subsequently engendered. Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State had similarly tried to end the practice in his state by giving directives to people of the state but failed as the attempt only exposed him to undue attacks.

Asking people of the state to go about their normal duties, Mr. Mbah had vowed that his administration would resist the continuation of the civil action in the state from Monday, June 5, 2023. “Therefore, those that strike on Mondays, putting restrictions in the way of our Igbo spirit of creativity, cannot be our true representatives. To this end, therefore, from Monday, June 5, 2023, there will be no observance of any sit-at-home in all nooks and crannies of Enugu State. Government will enforce this with all the powers at its disposal,”said Mbah.

The governor then asked all schools, markets, retail outlets, hospitals and transporters to stop obeying the Monday sit-at-home order in the state or face sanctions. “Any market, transport outlet, or any other body that fails to open for business risks being shut immediately,” Dan Neomeh, head of Governor Mbah’s media team, stated.

But the warning did not work as most people stayed indoors. Obviously, government has not convinced the people of their safety if they venture out.

There should be a collective and holistic effort by the authorities of the South-East and the Federal Government in any serious attempt to end the sit-at-home. The continued incarceration of IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is as significant a factor in resolving the issue, just as putting faces to the enforcers of the IPOB order, given that the mainstream of the organization had declared a suspension of the practice.

Originally, IPOB declared the sit-at-home every Monday and everyday Kanu, was to appear in court, to press for his unconditional release.

However, despite IPOB’s withdrawal of its order, some unidentified groups have emerged and continued unabatedly to enforce the sit-at-home order in a most violent manner. Many innocent people have been killed and vehicles accosted on the road on sit-at-home days were burnt. It is clear that the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the Federal Government even after no court of competent jurisdiction has found him guilty of treason as charged is at the root of persistent agitation by IPOB and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. To complicate the matter is the emergence of one Simon Ekpa, a Finland-based lawyer and activist, who is the de-facto leader of IPOB, now issuing sit-at-home orders that are religiously obeyed in the South-East.

To stop the continued disregard of official directives, it will be worthwhile for government to propose a political solution with Kanu’s freedom as central. It is instructive that Governor Mbah has pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release Kanu, as a precondition towards assuaging IPOB and its worldwide network of adherents; and as a prelude to the evasive peace in the South East.

The sit-at-home was declared in 2021 after Kanu was renditioned from Kenya to Nigeria despite travelling to Kenya as a British citizen. He was hitherto charged with running a proscribed group, jumping bail and treason. Kanu was however acquitted and discharged by the Court of Appeal. His counsel, Aloy Ejimakor had also earlier appealed to President Tinubu to release Kanu and eschew toeing the line of his predecessor, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, whose government sought a stay of execution order of Kanu’s release at the Supreme Court.

Mbah was concerned that the sit-at-home order was at variance with his administration’s quest to improve the welfare of residents of the state.

“A time comes in the lives of a people when they must decide whether they genuinely want to move forward or remain stuck with the conditions of their underdevelopment. The creativity and sense of industry of Ndi Igbo are remarkable. Our DNA is wired with commercial and entrepreneurial prowess. If this is what we are known by, then it becomes inconsistent with reality that the spirits of entrepreneurship, commerce and creativity are killed every Monday in our land. Our restless spirit of industry abhors laxity and indolence,” he stated.

Mbah said the order was killing the dream of his administration to move the state forward. “For us to transit from a public service economy to a private sector-driven one, we must free our markets from the shackles of restriction to commerce. If indeed we aspire and anticipate an influx of private sector practitioners and investors in Enugu State, we must know that this will not happen where the perception of us is that of unproductive people.”

Mbah, therefore, called on President Tinubu to consciously work towards the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, believing that his release “will expedite the healing process Nigeria needs at this time.” For a new government raring to make great impact on the country, no sacrifice is too much to make by the Tinubu administration towards finding a lasting peace in the South East and indeed Nigeria.