Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has replaced the sit-at-home order in the Southeast region of Nigeria with a new programme called the “Economic Empowerment Day”.

Kanu’s decision was made known on Saturday, August 5, in a statement released by IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful.

Powerful explained that the move is intended to prove Kanu’s rejection of all forms of unrest in Igboland.

He further said that the “Economic Empowerment Day (EED) connotes a day set aside for mass mobilisation of Biafrans, to devote their resources and means towards reversing the sharp and unprecedented decline in the economic, educational, and social needs of our people occasioned by the prolonged sit-at-home.”

He explained that during the economic empowerment exercise, people of the Southeast are encouraged to embark on the massive deployment of their resources to empower the region’s educationally disadvantaged and poverty-ridden population.

His statement read: “Through education, employment, health services, sense of identity and community, our people and, indeed, the Eastern region can begin to thrive and grow.

“There is an urgent need to reclaim our lost glory by empowering Biafrans with the resources they need to live beyond mere subsistence, as our people are known globally for hard work, resilience, and great achievements.

“Also, the implication of this Economic Empowerment Day is that Biafrans are expected to devote significant time to adhere to their routine calendar schedule template strictly and uninterruptedly with a view to making up for the humongous time lost to the activities of misguided enforcers of unsanctioned Monday sit-at-home order.

“It is pertinent to use this medium to make an important fundamental clarification to the effect that Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s handwritten letter, which conveyed his message cancelling sit-at-home to the misguided elements hitherto enforcing sit-at-home in the entire Southeast, was never written under any duress, compulsion, or influence of any kind.”