Hon. Benjamin Kalu has lamented the negative effect of the stay-at-home problem in the Southeast region.
Kalu, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said that about N4 trillion had been lost as a result of the problem in the region within the last two years.
Kalu said that the situation observed every Monday in the region with the 5 States of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo has crippled businesses and stifled economic growth opportunities.
He disclosed this while delivering a keynote address at the “All Markets Conference 2023” with the theme: ‘Catalysing Partnership with Traders through Innovation, Technology, Analytics & Sustainability’ in Lagos.
According to him, the situation had forced potential investors out of the southeast.
He said: “The existential threat to Igbo entrepreneurship and businesses now is the insecurity and sit-at-home problem in the southeast. 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 and 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. Ummunnem, this is not us.
“We are not known for these. If I do not tell you these truths as your son, then it will be difficult for anyone in governance from Ala-Igbo to tell you.
“I am pained by what our dear land has become. We have to be honest and sincere with ourselves. In conclusion, I make a heartfelt plea to each and every one of you.
“We cannot afford to retreat from our business endeavours. The stay-at-home order on Mondays has resulted in staggering losses of 4 trillion Naira in the last two years in the southeast alone according to statistical data.
“This is also affecting the businesses of our brothers across Nigeria, especially in the supply chain. We must find lasting solutions to the security challenges in Igboland, addressing them collectively with innovative strategies.”
