In a recent statement via his official X account, human rights lawyer, Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, has reacted to the decision by the Anambra State Government to seal the Onitsha Main Market, warning that the action may have unintended consequences for traders and the wider economy.
”By sealing Onitsha main market, @anambrastate_ may have unintentionally revived a practice it claims to be burying. Fear, once reintroduced into a system, rarely obeys government timetables. Traders did not shut their shops out of rebellion but out of self-preservation,” he wrote.
In his post, Odinkalu shared and amplified an analysis argued that the market closure may have revived an atmosphere of fear that authorities claim they are trying to eliminate, according to him, when fear is brought back into a system, it becomes difficult to control or reverse.
The development followed the state government’s move to shut the popular commercial hub as part of enforcement measures, Onitsha Main Market is one of the largest markets in West Africa and supports thousands of traders and families who depend on daily business activities for survival.
Odinkalu noted that many shop owners did not abandon their businesses out of defiance, instead, they acted to protect themselves and their livelihoods in the face of uncertainty, he suggested that traders were motivated by safety concerns rather than resistance to government authority.
He warned that policies built around force can weaken trust between government and citizens and stressed that economic spaces thrive on stability and confidence, not anxiety and once people begin to feel unsafe, productivity drops and recovery becomes harder.
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