COVID-19 Lockdown in Nigeria

Again Poverty Collides with Ill-Health

Abstract

Poverty is common in African societies and there is a strong relationship between poverty and ill-heath. Ill-health produces poverty and poverty creates and perpetuates ill-health. COVID-19 is a health problem, and a highly transmittable viral infection caused by SARS-COV-2. Within its 64 days of entry into Nigeria, 1932 persons were confirmed infected with 58 deaths. Therefore, Nigerian government ordered a total lockdown in Lagos State, Ogun State and Abuja. However, many Lagos residents live in poverty. They were faced with two major pandemics – hunger and COVID-19. The relationship between poverty and ill-health was once more placed under the x-ray. As a result, the study assessed the level of compliance the poor residents of Lagos showed towards the lockdown as well as the economic consequences of the lockdown on them. The research being a qualitative study used in-depth interview guide to collect data from 138 participants selected from four LGAs of Lagos State. The resultant data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in narrative style. Data revealed that the poor residents of Lagos were unprepared for the lockdown and consequently could not cope with it. This resulted in low compliance rate. However, the economic consequences of the lockdown are precarious and the future is bleak. Therefore, the poor is highly susceptible to ill-health and extreme poverty currently and in future. Consequently, policy makers should always avoid lockdown as preventive measure over COVID-19 or any other pandemic/epidemic. Alternative measures abound.