MONDAY SIT-AT-HOME IN SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA: A CONTRADICTION TO THE OBJECTIVES OF INDIGEOUS PEOPLE OF BIAFRA (IPoB)

Abstract

Among the means through which the indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) has applied to vent their feelings and grievances in Nigeria, Monday Sit-at-Home in the region has emerged as the most irritating one to the objectives of the body. IPoB is a separatist body and movement whose major objectives are to enable independence and promote the welfare of Southeastern Nigeria, which is predominantly the Igbo. The study is a conscious interrogation on why the body initiated a strategy and protest that has appeared as a self-inflicted injury on the same people they pursue to protect and defend their interests. Some writers have seen the practice of Monday Sit-at-Home as a mere strategy for achieving the objectives of the body. Inasmuch as others have seen it as a protest against marginalization and ill-treatment of the Igbo in Nigeria; many consider it as God’s punishment against the Igbo. This paper observed the inadequacies of their positions, and argued that it is a self-inflicted pain on the people, frustrating their socioeconomic activities and projecting them badly in the politics of the country. It is intended here to unveil available facts that strengthened the position of the paper. The paper adopted an interdisciplinary approach. Primary and secondary data deployed are qualitatively analyzed.