Nigeria, Feb. 2 -- On Mondays, fear arrives before dawn.

Not the loud kind. Not panic. Just a quiet calculation made in thousands of homes at the same time: Is it worth the risk?

Most times, fear wins before breakfast.

We all agree on one thing now-this sit-at-home is bleeding the economy. It is draining traders, transporters, apprentices, and households. It is shrinking confidence and stretching poverty. But knowing the damage is not the same as knowing how to stop it. Because here is the hard truth: you cannot command people out of fear; you must walk them out of it.

Right now, policy has focused too much on shops and too little on movement. Markets don't open in isolation. They open because people can get there.

Most traders in O...