2 hours ago
2
A public policy analyst, Barrister Christopher Chidera, has said the Monday, February 2, 2026 sit-at-home declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, to show solidarity with traders of Onitsha Main Market paralyzed Anambra State by 85 percent.
Chidera, who shared his observations on the sit-at-home in a chat with journalists in Umuahia, said Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo made desperate efforts to neutralize the impact of the sit-at-home.
According to him, Soludo’s alleged threat to demolish about 10,000 shops in the market was a fallout of the success of the sit-at-home.
“Yesterday’s sit-at-home by Nnamdi Kanu led IPOB paralysed Anambra State by an estimated 85 percent. Streets were empty. Banks, schools, offices, and markets were shut. This is documented reality, as shown by the independent photo and video evidence published by various media houses.
“Faced with this crushing and undeniable humiliation, Chukwuma Soludo resorted to a desperate, theatrical afterthought. At about 2–3 p.m., long after it was obvious that the sit-at-home had succeeded, the governor hurried to a market — not to inspect traders at work, but to stage a performance with an estimated 400 rented supporters, choreographed to clap, chant, and sing his praises for BBC Igbo cameras,” the analyst, who said he monitored the sit-at-home, said.
He added that if the market had actually opened, as reported, Soludo would have visited in the morning, not late afternoon.
Insisting that those who were seen in a video cheering the governor at the market were not traders, Chidera said, “No serious trader leaves an open shop to abandon business and form a cheering circle around a governor.
“A confident governor walks through bustling stalls, greeting traders at work – not addressing a hired crowd at one corner of a market.
“What was shown was not commerce; it was damage control. He wouldn’t have announced demolition of 10,000 shops.
This infantile drama was a last-ditch attempt to save face after a comprehensive public rebuke. The rented crowd, the staged optics cannot rewrite the truth.
“The money reportedly wasted on logistics and crowd hire will not change the historical record of yesterday: Anambra stood still and the wider South-East was paralysed.”
Faulting Soludo’s actions, Chidera claimed the governor is struggling to impress “distant” political masters and auditioning for vice-presidential slot in 2031, and therefore, “chose deception over honesty and propaganda over leadership”.
“The people are not fools. Photographs may lie but live videos do not,” he added.
February 2 sit-at-home paralyzed Anambra by 85% – Public policy analyst
