Politics

Impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 4:28 PM by Aanu Adegun

- Coronavirus has affected so many facets of Nigeria's economy, according to a survey

- The survey noted that it adversely affected the level of employment in Nigeria

- Students were also affected as a result of the pandemic

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As Nigeria continues to battle the scourge of the notorious coronavirus pandemic, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with support from the World Bank, has conducted the Nigerian COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (COVID-19 NLPS).

The survey measures the impact of the pandemic on employment and livelihoods, food security and access, and human development.

In the survey, it was discovered, a high rate of households reported income loss, and many are still moving in and out of work.

Impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria — Coronavirus has affected so many facets of Nigeria's economy according to a survey. Credit:WorldBank
Source: UGC

According to the survey results, "during the first round of the survey, 42% of overall job loss could be traced directly to COVID-19, with a higher percentage of lost employment among the poorest (49%) and urban (48%) households, relative to the wealthiest (39%) and rural households (38%). The commerce, service, and agricultural sectors were hit hardest by the spread of the virus."

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In addition, the pandemic also had an effect on the educational sector.

"In April/May, 38% of households with school-age kids reported that their kids had not engaged in any educational pursuits in the 7 days before the interview took place."

However, in subsequent months that followed this, the report noted that "children in urban households were more likely to engage in educational activities (73% of households with school-aged children) compared to those in rural households (57% of households with school-aged children), though no similar urban-rural gap was found for contact with teachers."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that despite the hardship brought by the coronavirus, the Nigerian government has said the country's economy would recover from the effect of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2021.

This was disclosed by the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, who gave the projection when board members of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja.