The devastating effect of the dreaded Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria is beginning to manifest going by the latest revelation by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) who has disclosed that about 42 per cent of Nigerians have lost their job due to the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
The NBS said this was as a direct result of the government-imposed restrictions on movement and economic activities for more than ten weeks. The details were contained in a report released by the NBS on Saturday. The bureau also stated that 79 per cent of those polled by the statistics said they recorded decline in their income since the middle of March. Nigeria recorded its index case late February when the Italian arrived Lagos State with the dreaded disease, which led to the imposition of lockdown in many parts of the country late March.
According to the NBS, “Workers in all sectors were affected by the pandemic, but primarily those working in commerce, services and agriculture. 14 per cent of respondents were working in the commerce sector before the outbreak but have since stopped working due to COVID-19. This is equivalent to 60 per cent of all those working in the sector prior to the pandemic. In all sectors, respondents that stopped working reported that COVID-19 related economic impacts were the primary cause.
“Some households struggled to purchase staple foods like yam, rice and beans during the 7 days prior to the interview with 35-59 per cent of households who need to purchase these staple foods reporting that they were not able to buy them. 26 per cent of households reported not being able to access medical treatment when they needed it during the same period.”
The NBS further stated that that the experience of economic shocks in the few months after the outbreak of coronavirus far exceeds shocks experienced between 2017 and 2019.
The most widely reported shock experienced by households, the NBS said was an increase in prices of major food items faced by 85 percent of households since the outbreak compared to only 19 percent between January 2017 and January 2019.
