By Jude Michael
For Anambra State to develop her economy, it has to join the global trend of working for 24 hours rather than the current 8 hours, the Deputy Governorship Candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, Uzu Okagbue, has said.
Okagbue identified what he described as the greatest threat to the hope of development in Anambra State as working for 8 hours from 9am to 5pm, noting that any economy that ran for that duration would never grow.
‘Anambra State cannot attain development while running an 8-hour economy. Currently, the state’s economy runs from 9 am to about 5 pm, and cannot grow, as no 8-hour economy can advance towards the expected dimension in any part of the world,’ Okagbue averred.
Reiterating his position, the YPP Deputy Governorship Candidate said the world had swiftly moved to a 24-hour economy, which, he noted, was why payment systems now ran all day and nonstop in order for business operations not to be interrupted by what he called artificial road blocks.
‘For Anambra, the road is still far because the state is trapped in all manner of insecurity which has not only completely deleted one full day from the original six active business days, but has also reduced effective business hours to a paltry 8 hours,’ he stated.
Okagbue regretted that people could no longer start their days early enough and could also no longer retire late because of the fear of the unknown. He maintained that no country or society could develop by running an 8-hour economy in just five days, noting that Anambra could not be an exception.
Okagbue’s view comes at a time of renewed insecurity in Anambra State, with the state backed security outfit, Udo Ga Achi, being enmeshed in avoidable controversies, including extortion of road users, to the detriment of their main job.
