Anambra Begs Transporters to End Monday Boycott as Schools and Banks Reopen, But Drivers Demand ‘Bulletproof’ Security First

Anambra State is officially open for business on Mondays, but there’s just one problem: there aren’t enough buses to get people there. In a passionate plea on Tuesday, the State Government urged commercial drivers and transport companies to “seize the moment” and resume full operations, labeling the transport sector as the only major segment still “slacking” in the state’s recovery plan.

Speaking at a training event for commercial drivers in Awka, the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, lamented that the lack of adequate transportation is sabotaging the efforts of traders who have finally defied the years-long sit-at-home order. “The civil servants are at their desks, the banks are open, and the Onitsha Main Market is buzzing,” Mefor said. “But traders are complaining that they can’t move their goods or reach their customers because the parks are half-empty on Mondays.”

The government’s frustration is boiling over into tough love. Just 24 hours earlier, on Monday, February 23, state officials sealed the popular New Auto Spare Parts Market in Nnewi for one week as punishment for “low compliance.” Governor Chukwuma Soludo has made it clear that any market or business that remains locked on Mondays will be treated as an act of economic sabotage.

However, for the men behind the wheel, the issue isn’t defiance it’s survival. Transporters at major terminals in Abuja and Lagos told reporters on Monday that while they heard Nnamdi Kanu has officially cancelled the sit-at-home order, the “fear factor” remains paralyzed in their hearts. “People prefer to travel on Tuesday and stay alive than risk a Monday trip and lose their bus to a petrol bomb,” one terminal manager remarked. They are now demanding that the Federal and State governments move beyond speeches and deploy “advanced, coordinated security” along the highways to prove that the roads are truly safe.

As the state government continues its “State of Harmony” offensive, the ball is now in the court of the security agencies. With the pro-rata salary cuts already hitting civil servants’ pockets and markets being shut for non-compliance, the pressure is on to ensure that the buses start rolling again before the next Monday sun rises.