Sit-at-home: In whose interest?

NOW that most of our children in the South-East  did not sit for the  General Mathematics subject in the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination,  National Examination Council (NECO) of  last Monday, how have we helped them?

  WHAT will  happen to their examinations in Further Mathematics, Literature in English and Woodwork on Monday, August 16?  We surely  do not know whether they will sit for these subjects. All these, to the credit of the reported ‘sit-at-home’on Mondays in the entire South-East.

   THE situation is now very worrisome given the fact that  anybody who doesn’t  pass Mathematics failed the school certificate examination. It is therefore obvious that  we are going to have general failure of candidates from the zone who sat for the NECO. Is that the legacy we want to pass to our children through the current activism? Given the view being held in some quarters, the Mondays should be for sit-at-home in the region, it is left to be imagined how many examinations our children will miss because there will not be public transport.

  ONCE the NECO examination ends, the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will commence on Monday, August 16 and end on Thursday, September 30. The youngsters may keep losing out too.

  IN THIS regard, have we helped our children? How will this generation regard us, their parents? How do we explain it?

  HOW  do we explain the number of deaths recorded in just one day of the action, last Monday?

  IN IMO State, four persons were killed in Ahiazu, and a house burnt in Mbaise. In Anambra, two persons were reportedly shot dead in Nnewi, while a woman was shot in the eye in Ebonyi State. Hoodlums set five vehicles belonging to two different transport companies,  a Sienna, and a Highlander SUV ablaze along the Owerri-Umuahia Road.

  HOW would the economy of the zone fare in all these? How  would  the deaths, injuries and destruction recorded during the sit- at- home be explained in the context of agitation for the people’s general betterment? How many will be recorded on upper and subsequent Mondays?

 CONSIDERING that the action is tied to the ongoing trial of Nnamdi Kanu, when  do we expect the legal issue around him to end if that is really  the reason for the sit-at-home? If the case ends in a year or two, even in three years, do we expect to have the sit-at-home on Mondays  up to that time?

  AT THE end of it all, what will be the fate of the South-East markets, offices and even the transport sector? Is it not possible to think of an alternative strategy or at least, find a way out of it?

  RECALL that this was the kind of headless  activism backed by threats that a group championed during the national census exercise in 2006 and a good number of ndi Igbo, both  abroad and in homeland were scared or made weary of participating in the  head count. The result is now a huge demographic and economic disenfrachisation of South-East. the rest of the loss is now left for history to capture and recall later as we are still feeling the impact. There will be a census very soon and we don’t want the 2006 experience again in  South-East’s collective interest in this  Nigerian state.

  THERE is on-going  nationwide voter registration and people’s apathy is at play. The sit-at-home directive may  further compound issues for the people of the zone in matters of political influence. Active voter participation ensures a voice on who governs and the kind of leadership the system offers.

  ANY tactics or stratagem that a fighter adopts that further harms him is not the best for the fight and not, a winning strategy. Should it be in Igbo interest to stay-at-home on Mondays – a prime day of work? How can wasting some valuable time and resources advance the Igbo course?

  THREATENED is the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo people. What happens to the markets across the region that sustains her enterprising spirit?

 ALONE, Onitsha Main Market, the biggest in West Africa receives hundreds of thousands of visits with  millions of  transactions on a daily basis. Daily volume of trade in Onitsha Market is in excess of $9.6 million with about 40 per cent of this figure in constant circulation through  unbanked transactions.

  IN ADDITION, Ariara Market, Aba, Abia State, is the leather works capital of West Africa with an estimated two million traders. There is  the Nkwo Nnewi, among other markets with huge trade volumes and trades.

  THIS is without counting the level of losses to courts, offices and other corporate  activities that are directly or indirectly relevant to the populace. This sit-at-home therefore, needs reconsideration.