Traders can’t claim N100bn loss; they have no way of knowing actual figure –Govt.
Following the recent closure of the Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State, the affected traders have cried out, lamenting that they have lost over N100 billion at the end of the one week closure. Governor Charles Soludo had ordered the closure of the market after the traders’ failure to open their shops, in obedience to the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
It was gathered that the state government had at several meetings with the traders discussed and advised them to keep the market open and their businesses running even on Mondays. According to government sources, the traders defied the government’s directive and refused to comply with the agreement reached with the Soludo administration.
When contacted, some of the traders present at the meeting with the Governor lamented that what they have lost to the closure runs into over a hundred billion naira, and that the closure took them unawares while lampooning the authorities for not giving them opportunities to take ameliorative steps.
One of the leaders of the traders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity asked: “How do we sit down to check how much we may have lost in the past five days that our market has been closed by the government? I’m certain that by the end of one week, nothing less than ₦100bn would have been lost.
“Do we start with the Main Market proper or other markets around the South East that have regular business transactions with importers in the Main Market and depend on supplies from the Onitsha Main Market to be able to function?
“What about our customers that are supposed to complete transactions these past days, only for the market to be closed? What is the fate of foreigners from neighbouring African countries who travel to Onitsha to make purchases on a weekly basis?
Some are already stranded and others frustrated because of the sudden shut-down of the Main Market,” lamented one of the traders. Most of the traders who spoke to one of our reporters declined to mention their names for fear of victimisation, but they contended that they had no prior notice that the market would be closed.
“Had it been that we knew, we would have made arrangements before now and we thought it was one of those visits by the Governor and before we knew it the market was shut down,” a woman line leader said. Another trader in the market, simply known as Ichie Amobi, told one of our reporters that the loss is enormous and as such many traders cannot afford to risk further loss when the market reopens.
His words: “There are no two ways about this, if you are a trader you are a trader, by next Monday I will resume my business at the market. I have also told my boys that even if I travel out of the state, they must ensure that all our shops are opened and fully operational.”
When asked if that was the view of every trader in the market, Amobi replied, “I do not speak for the market, I speak for myself alone. I know many people are re-evaluating the situation and will want to start on Monday but I do not speak for them; I speak for myself alone and my shops will be open for business next Monday.
Government’s response In his response, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Soludo on New Media, Mr. Ejimofor Opara dismissed their claims, noting that they were warned ahead of time about the last Monday sit-at-home and that there were circulars sent to them to that effect in the past.
He said: “The traders are being clever by half because we had three to four meetings with their leaders about ending the sit-at-home exercise and they were told to open their shops on Monday but they felt it was those usual talks and they didn’t comply.
“For instance, Eke Awka Market was opened, Nnewi Market was opened, even Ekwulobia Market was opened as well as the Ochanja Market, they were all opened; so how come Onitsha Main Market was closed?” he said.
Opara contended that the traders had no known parameters to evaluate how much that have been lost since the market was closed last Monday, adding that the figures that they are mentioning is a far cry from what has been lost in the past five years that markets closed during Monday sit- at-home.
“Assuming without conceding, let us work it out, how many Mondays do we have in a month and then multiply it by 12 months and by five years then you can imagine how much that has been lost. “The Bureau of Statistics has it that over N19.6bn is lost in the South East to the Monday sit-at-home, and Anambra State accounts for N8bn which is almost half of the total sum and with that as the template you can imagine how much that has been lost in five years.”
Meanwhile the market would be reopened on Monday and traders are expected to open their shops for business irrespective of the usual sit-at- home order. According to the resolution reached at the meeting with the Governor, all shops must be open and that any shop that is under lock and key, the market line leaders would be held responsible and defaulters would be made to face the consequences.
Also security would be beefed up at the major markets in the state to reassure the traders of their safety. Commenting also on the shut down and issues surround it, Dr. Jones Onwuasoanya, a public commentator and aide to the Governor of Imo State on Public communication had this to say: “More than 90% of those who lock up their shops on Mondays do that out of fear and intimidation rather than out of any voluntary solidarity with any group.
“These individuals need to be made to understand that they can no longer stay at home, thereby, ruining the economy of an entire zone through a senseless order, especially, given that the government has done its bit by providing security and guaranteeing the safety of these traders and their customers by eliminating the hoodlums who hitherto threatened their lives.
“In the last three or so years since this senseless sit-at-home started, billions of Naira had been lost in revenue by the state; business opportunities had been lost and trade in the South East has taken a big blow from this economic sabotage.
A governor who is alive to his responsibility cannot fold his arms and watch this continue, and no amount of media attack should make the governor rescind this order. “I will also advise that starting from next Monday, shops that are closed to business should have their tenancy or ownership revoked or alternatively, a heavy levy should be introduced to penalise those who decide to sit at home on Mondays while some incentives should be offered to all shop owners and businesses that open their shops on Mondays.
“For instance, the governor can decide that all shops that open on Mondays shall not pay tax for six months, as long as they open their shops constantly for that period, while those who do not open their shops on Mondays must pay a certain amount as fine for any Monday that their shops are locked. We cannot continue to condone this economic sabotage and obvious silliness.”
