* Say: Life more precious than job
Public and civil servants in Anambra State, on Monday, chose life above all else as they defied the directive by Governor Chukwuma Soludo to shun the sit-at-home order and report for work on Mondays.
Soludo, in a circular dated March 25, 2022, signed by the Head of Service, Barr. Theodora Igwegbe, had warned that absence from work on Mondays will attract sanctions.
Part of the memo read: “Following the need to reposition the service for better performance and productivity, His Excellency, the governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has directed that henceforth, all public servants should report at their places of work every Monday as every other weekdays.
“Consequently, absence from work on Monday, or any other workday without any approval will be viewed as serious misconduct, which will attract appropriate sanctions. This directive takes immediate effect,” the memo read.
But the directive failed to allay the fears of both categories of workers, as well as business people. Those who attempted in the past to defy the sit-at-home order had nasty experiences from the enforcers hence no one dared this time to step out of their homes on Monday March 28, despite the governor’s directive.
Reports say the ever-busy Onitsha/Owerri road, Savoy junction, Oguta road, Upper Iweka, Nkpor junction in Onitsha and Nnobi road, Awka road, Nkwo triangle, among others in Nnewi were, as usual, deserted on Monday.
Most police stations blocked the major roads leading to their facilities over fear of attack from unknown gunmen.
As at 8.am in both cities, neither school children nor their teachers were seen on the streets going to school as all schools remained under lock and key.
The situation was the same at the local government area offices, courts, hospitals, among other public institutions.
A staffer at Onitsha General Hospital, who pleaded anonymity, said although they were unhappy disobeying the governor’s directives, their lives are more important to them.
He said: “Days are gone when as bread winners some of our people lost their lives to miscreants and those who have no future. It is not that we are disobeying the executive order, but the whole place is not safe.
“Who comes to your rescue when the miscreants attack you? Even the IPOB are looking for these miscreants who claim to be working on behalf of the genuine members.
“People are in their respective homes in peace. Youths are playing football on the streets and others gather, drink and talk about Ukraine and Russia war”.
A staffer of the Onitsha North Local Government Area, who identified herself simply as Geraldine, argued that one has to be alive first before going to work.
She regretted that the situation was worsened by the governor’s order, which she described as counter-productive.
She said: “I don’t want to risk my life, let the government order the transporters, markets, banks, courts and others to start first before they ask us to be on the duty post.
“The governor’s order should wait for now until the coast is clear for the ship to berth. The governor’s order even worsened the situation; you can see that the situation is even worse today than the previous days.
“How can he issue it as an order to us when he has those security operatives that guard him?
“His predecessor, Willie Obiano, tried same and failed because if anything happens to us, it is our family that will lose and not the government.
Also reacting, a trader at Nnewi Nkwo triangle, Mr. Mathew Ogene, said: “It is funny for Soludo to ask innocent civil servants to go to work on Mondays when he did not provide security that will ward off any attack from miscreants.
“You can see that the roads are deserted; worse than before, and it is because of the executive order he issued while in Awka with over 30 security men around him when we don’t even have one with us.”
“The problem now is not the IPOB but the fake ones who even place public notices warning that whoever dares them will meet their waterloo.”