Following the persistent sit-at-home orders in the South East which are affecting businesses across the Zone, major importers based in the East have started relocating to Lagos.
An importer explained that the sit-at-home is crumbling businesses and they can’t just sit and watch while things get worse.
“Now they are talking of one-week sit-at-home, what do you expect people like us to do. Don’t forget that some of these businesses are financed by banks; what will you tell them; that there is sit-at-home?”
He explained that the danger is that the economy of the South East is threatened because once these people move and settle down in Lagos, it will be hard for them to come back. “It will take a long time. Not when one has paid for warehouses for two or three years.
“At the same time traders who come to Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi all the way from the North, Cameroon and other parts of Africa will stop coming. They will now be going straight to Lagos. You can imagine what will happen. But there is no choice in the face of this sit-at-home.
Traders in Aba now move their goods to Cross River to be able to do business on Mondays. If this continues, Cross River will gradually take over from Aba, traders in Onitsha will move to Asaba.
