By Mike Abbah
Nigeria’s South-east region is engulfed with a euphoria of mixed feelings on May 30, every year; and 2025 is no exception. This experience which creates the scenario of the good, the bad and the ugly, has small businesses as the worst casualty.
Being the largest employer of labour, the sector’s situation impacts most on the people than any other — with severe economic consequence in a region traditionally known for its aggressive pursuit of industrialization through a viable SME sector.
A recent report by SBN Intelligence revealed that the South-east has lost an estimated N7.6 trillion in four years since 2021 due to the persistent enforcement of sit-at-home orders by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The report entitled ‘Four Years of Disruption’, detailed how a protest initially intended to demand the release of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has evolved into a prolonged economic and humanitarian crisis, marked by violence, fear, and collapsed livelihoods.
The SBM report said micro businesses lose about N4.6 trillion annually, while transporters forfeit between N10 billion and N13 billion every Monday when the order is enforced.
The intelligence firm further said IPOB had declared a weekly Monday shutdown across the south-east in 2021, with initial compliance driven largely by solidarity.
“These losses stem from widespread market closures, disrupted supply chains, and the inability of businesses, particularly SMEs, to operate effectively.
“Micro-businesses have been particularly hard-hit, with annual losses reported at approximately N4.6 trillion due to the recurring sit-at-home days,” the report stated.
The trend is not new. A report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in February 2023 put the annual loss of the sit-at-home order in the region at N4.6 trillion.
Based on their financial records, ICIR extrapolated the losses of nano and micro businesses in the region using an earlier report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SEMDAN) research on the number of nano, micro, small and medium businesses in the country.
The findings confirmed that the situation worsened the fate of businesses in the region as operating costs continue to surge amid accelerating inflation and shrinking consumer spending.
“The sit-at-home order in the southeast region is crippling business activities. The nano and micro businesses survive on their daily income; hence any disruption automatically affects their operations,” SMEDAN emphasised, adding,
“Many of them are informal businesses and are the worst hit of the sit-at-home order.”
A cross-section of those who spoke to Daily Query, including tailors, dry cleaners, carwash operators, carpenters, masons, and even mechanics, complained that indeed the economic situation is negatively affecting their businesses.
Some of them have been forced to abandon their businesses and resorted to driving shuttle buses and riding commercial motorcycles in rural areas.
There are concerns over the multi-dimensional impact of the crisis. Initially rooted in legitimate grievances over marginalisation and the detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the movement has been hijacked by violence, criminality, and internal fragmentation, eroding public support and deepening instability.
The impact is evident in both urban and rural areas. Large commercial hubs like Onitsha Main Market, one of Africa’s largest, have been repeatedly forced to close, resulting in missed transactions and financial strain for traders and consumers.
The SBM report documented 776 deaths and 332 violent incidents between 2021 and 2025, with Imo and Anambra states accounting for more than half of the fatalities.
IPOB’s armed wing — the Eastern Security Network (ESN) — and other criminal gangs have been blamed for enforcing the sit-at-home order through arson, kidnappings, and targeted killings.
The insecurity the crisis created impacts on the economic backward integration of the region.
Backward integration is a practice where companies are encouraged to cultivate their own raw materials by purchasing from their suppliers or establishing their own farms, for instance, to grow produce for their factories.
The consumer goods firms, in particular, keyed into the scheme and have since taken giant strides in its implementation.
This is to the benefit of the MSMEs, especially those engaged in the agriculture and transport value chain. But the receding fortune of the South-east economy suggests a strong negative impact on the two major areas – transport and agribusiness operators.
Car hire services, for instance, are severely impacted as the hospitality industry suffers the effects of sit-at-home order in the region. Daily Query findings showed that less visitors now travel to Owerri to spend the weekends and return on Monday. Hotel suppliers also express concern over the dwindling business due to low patronage.
According to reports, many transport companies withdrew their services to the South-east due to low patronage. A manager in one of the major transport companies located at Jibowu – Yaba, Lagos, who would not want his name published because he does not have the authority of the transport association executives to speak to the press, confirmed the situation.
According to him, many travelers to the South-east booked their trips to Asaba, in Delta state, to continue their journey to the South-east the next day.
“People are not travelling to the East today, May 30, which is being observed as Biafra Day. While IPOB has not ordered a shutdown of businesses in the region for the celebration of the Biafra Day, there are fears that some hoodlums would still cause mayhem and attack innocent people in the name of marking Biafra Day,” the transport manager said.
“You can imagine the economic effect on small businesses, including those road hawkers who depend on a daily wage to feed their families,” he added.
Notwithstanding the efforts by the South-east governors to end the nefarious sit-at-home practice, the people continue to observe the order – out of fear of attack.
The Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo in 2022, vowed to stop the weekly sit-at home trend in the state, that had continued for months.
Soludo, who spoke on the occasion of the 2022 Public Servants Day, described Simon Ekpa, the organiser of the sit-at-home, as “a mad man in Finland.”
Soludo said it was only in Anambra that the order was not obeyed, adding that by next year, the trend will be completely abolished.
He said Anambra could no longer afford the loss of 20 per cent of its public life to sit-at-home which, he said, was already becoming part of life in the South-east.
“Eight LGAs were totally taken over at the time we came, they said they were unknown gunmen; no, they are known gunmen born of women and from communities.
Enugu Governor Peter Mbah, in 2023, declared an end to sit-at-home in the State from Monday, June 5, saying such actions were restricting creativity, entrepreneurship and productivity.
He however expressed the government’s readiness “to engage in dialogue with the people, who have genuine grievances towards bringing lasting peace and security to Enugu State”.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to quicken the much-needed healing process in Nigeria.
The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, in 2022, said the sit-at-home order of the IPOB had ended in most parts of Imo State, except in remote places.
Mr Uzodinma, who disclosed this during an interview on “Politics Today”, a politics programme on Channels TV, said the government of Imo State had given adequate support to security agencies in the state thereby allowing people to move freely on such days.
“If you come to Imo, there is nothing called sit-at-home again. We have been able to support our security officers to occupy the space,” Mr Uzodinma said.
Despite these assurances, there are signs and reports that the sit-at-home practice has not been totally eradicated across the region. Transporters, traders, schools and persons in other sectors do not operate on Mondays, and no public events are held on Mondays.
IPOB has declared a sit-at-home on May 30, 2025. It said the action was to honour Biafran men and women who died during the Biafran War.
IPOB said the sit-at-home is a yearly memorial, noting that it was a way to remember Biafra heroes and heroines.
The group said it informed the South-east and South-south governors about the plan.
IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful, in a statement on Monday, said the day would include lectures in honour of Biafran heroes, both in Nigeria and abroad.
The statement reads, “The peak of the yearly memorial and remembrance event will occur on May 30th, 2025, known as the Biafra Heroes Memorial Day. It is a day designated by IPOB for Biafrans to commemorate and pay tribute to our heroes, heroines, and those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for Biafra’s liberation and independence. The IPOB leadership has announced that May 30, 2025, will be a free day, marking a total lockdown for Biafrans residing in Biafran Land.
“Biafrans residing in Biafra land should observe a lockdown to pay tribute to those who battled and perished in the Nigerian genocidal war against Biafra, while Biafrans fought for our independence. We need to commemorate them by spending one day indoors. We urge all Biafrans and every advocate of freedom in Biafra Land to comply with this one-day lockdown directive on May 30, 2025.
“All IPOB family members in their various countries must organise and obtain permits to demonstrate against the unlawful imprisonment of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the illegal detention of Nnamdi Kanu in Nigeria.”
It added, “There will be no school, no community meetings, no religious services, no opening of markets and stores, and no public assemblies of any kind.
“Simply stay inside and enjoy television and videos with your family while contemplating the memories and the genocide inflicted upon Biafrans from 1967 to the present day. It is a day for families to recount their experiences of the Biafran genocidal war from 1967 to 1970 and the ongoing victimisation, destruction, and marginalisation of the Ndigbo within Nigeria.
“IPOB has contacted the West African Examination Council, WAEC, to inform them of the lockdown directive on the 30th of May, so they can modify the May/June SSCE exams schedule to serve all students.
“Messages have also been dispatched to the Governors in the South East and South-South Regions to notify them that we will remember and pay tribute to our heroes and heroines who sacrificed everything for us with a lockdown mandate on May 30, 2025.”
The group said there will be no protests in Biafra land or any part of Nigeria to avoid violence from security forces.
“Notice. No protests will take place in Biafra or anywhere in Nigeria to prevent being harmed by the lethal Nigerian Security Forces. Biafrans abroad will gather in the streets of their host countries or organize town hall meetings to express their support in honoring our fallen heroes and advocating for the restoration of Biafra.
“IPOB and Ndigbo across the globe will pay tribute to all our fallen heroes and heroines, including our everlasting leader, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Gen Phillip Efiong, Chief Dr Frank Opigo, Commander Ikonso, and numerous others who significantly contributed and fought to avert the genocide and destruction of Biafrans by the Nigerian and British governments along with their allied forces.
“Every year on May 30th is a significant day for all Biafrans. It is a public holiday for every citizen and non-citizen of Biafra living in the Biafra territory.
“IPOB prioritises the well-being of Ndigbo and has discovered methods to prevent the Nigerian State from killing our people as we continue to remember and celebrate our heroes.”
The lockdown will last from 6 am to 6 pm.
Only essential workers like doctors, nurses, journalists, ambulance drivers, police, firefighters, and fuel workers are allowed to go out during the lockdown.
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