The House of Representatives Deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu said the sit-at-home order in the south East led to the loss of about N4 trillion in the last two years.
The sit-at-home order which is usually observed on every Monday is compelled by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and it has reduced the economic growth from the region
The Deputy speaker made this revelation at a keynote address on Friday at the ““All Markets Conference 2023” with the theme: “Catalysing Partnership with Traders through Innovation, Technology, Analytics & Sustainability” in Lagos, adding the situation had forced potential investors out of the South East.
He instead called on joint efforts from all Igbos , making sure the unconstitutional action come to an end
“The existential threat to Igbo entrepreneurship and businesses now is the insecurity and sit-at-home problem in the South-east. The mutation of this problem is largely unfathomable. It is becoming a cankerworm that is eating deep into our collective fortune as a people.”
“We have to rise up to nip the problem in the bud. The first wave of the migration of Igbo businesses post-civil war was in the late 1980s and the 1990s, when, due to incessant kidnappings, thievery and a rise in occultism, Igbo businesses domiciled in Igboland moved en masse to other parts of Nigeria and the West & Central African region to thrive.
“We are currently witnessing the second wave of such migration of Igbos businesses, this time around, due to the insecurity and the sit-at-home problem in our beloved region”, he said.
At the end, Kalu called for the revival of Igbo apprenticeship system which he said had produced successful business men and women, stressing that it should not be allowed to go into extinction.
