The administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo in Anambra State has officially prohibited the continued observance of the Monday sit-at-home practice within the educational sector. Through a newly issued Executive Order, the state government has mandated that all schools and administrative offices across the region resume their full operations at the start of every week, effective immediately.
Okay News reports that this significant policy shift was solidified following an intensive retreat held by the State Executive Council on January 21, 2026. The directive was formally communicated in a letter dated January 22, signed by Loveline Mgbemena, the Secretary of the Anambra State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), and distributed to education officials in all 21 local government areas.
To ensure strict adherence to this new protocol, the state government has introduced severe financial consequences for civil servants and educators who fail to report to their duty posts. Any employee, whether a teacher or administrative staff member, found absent on a Monday without valid authorization will face a mandatory 20 percent reduction in their monthly salary, with the possibility of forfeiting their entire pay for the period.
The Monday sit-at-home phenomenon originally emerged in August 2021 as a protest action by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to pressure the federal government for the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu. While the group’s leadership eventually moved to cancel the weekly restriction, a climate of apprehension and fear of potential violence had caused many residents and institutions in the Southeast to continue staying indoors.
This latest Executive Order aims to dismantle that culture of fear and restore the standard five-day academic and business week in Anambra. The government emphasized that the long-standing disruption to the state’s educational calendar and economic productivity must come to an end to safeguard the future of the students and the state’s overall progress.
Education officials and supervisors have been instructed to conduct rigorous monitoring across the local government areas to verify compliance. The state authority has made it clear that the era of unauthorized weekly closures is over, and that the administrative machinery of the state will be fully utilized to enforce these new guidelines and protect those returning to their workplaces.
