Anambra Ends Monday Sit-At-Home, Slams Salary Sanctions on Teachers, Civil Servants
The Anambra State Government has officially scrapped the long-running Monday sit-at-home practice, issuing an Executive Order that mandates all schools and public offices to operate on Mondays, with stiff salary penalties for defiant workers.
Under the new directive, teachers and non-tutorial staff who fail to report for duty on Mondays risk losing 20 per cent of their monthly salary or forfeiting it entirely.
The order was conveyed in a letter dated January 22, 2026, signed by the Board Secretary of the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), Mrs Loveline Mgbemena.
Titled “Executive Order on Termination of Monday Sit-At-Home in Anambra State,” the letter was addressed to permanent board members, education officers in charge of the state’s 21 local government areas, zonal directors and departmental heads.
Mgbemena directed senior officials to circulate the directive to all staff and ensure strict compliance, describing it as an executive decision of the state government.
According to the letter, the decision followed a State Executive Council retreat held on January 21, 2026, and presided over by Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo.
“Sequel to the State Executive Council retreat held on January 21, 2026, presided over by the State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, I am directed to inform you that the protracted Monday sit-at-home in Anambra State has been abolished with immediate effect,” the letter stated.
It added that any staff member tutorial or non-tutorial who fails to attend school or office on Mondays would either receive only 80 per cent of their salary or forfeit their pay entirely.
The Monday sit-at-home culture in Anambra and other parts of the South-East began on August 9, 2021, following a directive by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which ordered residents to remain indoors to demand the release of its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
Although IPOB later announced the suspension of the sit-at-home order, fear of attacks and reprisals has continued to keep schools, markets and public offices largely shut on Mondays.
The Soludo administration has repeatedly blamed the sit-at-home for disrupting education, deepening poverty and weakening governance in the state, insisting that normal economic and academic activities must resume.
However, the latest order has raised concerns among teachers and school workers who argue that persistent security threats not sympathy for IPOB have forced many residents to stay off the streets on Mondays.
Despite the concerns, the state government appears determined to enforce compliance, using salary deductions as leverage to end what it describes as a prolonged disruption of public life in Anambra State.
