Negative and Positive Effects of Coronavirus in Nigeria
The effects of coronavirus: Ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus, it is obvious that the economy of all countries affected keeps crippling down, especially in our dear country; Nigeria.
This article will talk about both the negative and surprisingly positive effects of the pandemic on the Nigerian economy.
The negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the citizens of Nigeria are more laudable and as much should be treated first. As indicated in the title of this article, the effects of the pandemic on the citizens of Nigeria will be divided into two; the negative and the positive effects.
Table of Contents
1. Deaths:
The death rate of a pandemic such as the coronavirus which has no age limit is so troublesome. This virus cut across all age gaps. From the newly born to teenagers, to the labour workforce and sadly the aged.
The labour workforce they say is the backbone of any economy in the world, so surely any reduction due to death in the labour workforce will surely affect the economy of the country.
The teenagers, on the other hand, are people that are to take over from the labour workforce. So what happens if they are very small of a number or they don’t exist at all? What happens if we don’t have children to fill in the teenagers’ stage in the near future? And sadly what happens if we don’t have the elderly ones to tells us stories of how they handled situations we are yet to face? It’s true what they say:
“What an elderly man can see while sitting down, a child will not see even when climbing on top of a tree.”
The increasing number of deaths caused by this pandemic is slowly and steadily affecting the economy of this country.
2. Hunger:
The stay at home campaign that is on to curb the spread of the pandemic will not do so well with the middle class and the poor. A lot of people in this country rely on what they do or services they render every day to feed, so if they are forced to stop what they do, how can they survive? Hunger tends to always bring out the worst in people. People who are hungry tend to become angry with themselves, society, and everything around them.
They turn to thieves, armed robbers, prostitutes, liars, internet fraudsters, etc. to survive. To an extent, I’ll not entirely say they are at fault because if they don’t eat they’ll die, and if Nigerian government like that of other countries provides at least a square meal in form of job creation, they will survive.
3. Trauma:
Not everyone will do so well emotionally when you isolate them from the rest of the world. Thinking increases, depression creeps in, and all kinds of emotional challenges may tend to arise.
People currently in isolation centres may tend to be traumatized during or even after the pandemic and Nigeria has proven over the years not to be ready to accommodate such people. Go to our mental hospitals and see how poorly their services and facilities are?
4. Beggars:
Just go to social media and you’ll see a lot of social beggars looking for what to eat. People are begging currently for almost everything they can get, and it’s obvious that if this pandemic continues for a while where the rich start running out of their wealth, the result is going to be very bad.
5. Increase in Crime:
In reference to the second point stated above, hungry people tend to involve in crime adding to the number of the “professional criminals” we already have in the country. This does not look good.
Now, enough with the ending list of negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic, time to look at the bright side of things, lets now see the surprisingly positive effects of this pandemic to the citizens of Nigeria.
1. Good hygiene:
A lot of people are now practicing good hygiene, people now wash their hands regularly, shaving or keeping their beards clean, using clean nose masks, clean handkerchiefs and so much more, all because of the pandemic. This is a good thing because as they say:
“Cleanliness is next to godliness”
2. Going Digital:
There has now been a rapid growth into the digital world in these trying times. As reported by newsmen some weeks back, Lagos and Anambra states are already teaching using on-air platforms (radio and television), apps and the internet, I bet more states will follow suit very soon.
You also noticed that the number of Nigerians youth hopping into the digital age has greatly increased. Go to sololearn.com, 365datascience etc, you’ll see Nigerians registering for online courses such as programming courses, Data sciences, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a host of others. These are the future, and the future leaders of the country are already going into the future.
3. Having time for family:
Busy businessmen and women are now forced to create time for their families. It will not really be a good thing though when you’re starving, but on the bright side, you’ll get to know your family better and connect with each other.
4. e-Learning Adoption:
I believe that a lot of Tertiary Institutions will start going digital, just as the second point states, some weeks back the University of Lagos (UNILAG) started Online GST lectures, even the National Open University (NOUN) has started online facilitation programmes, the American University of Nigeria (AUN) has adopted an e-learning management system, the same applies to Nile University, Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) and a host of others. A lot of other institutions, most especially the Public and state-owned will be forced to either use the e-Learning platforms or be left with a shattered academic calendar.
5. Creativity:
Nigerians also tend to be creative when they are pushed to the wall, I believe this pandemic will be no different, the Bayero University, Kano (BUK) is already working on fabricating ventilators, a team of two men were able to repair ventilators in the University of Jos Teaching Hospital (UJTH) even though they claimed to have never seen such till the day they repaired them. Schools and organizations are already producing hand sanitizers, nose masks and other necessary items that will help to curb the spread of the pandemic.
6. Accountability:
People are now forced to voice out and hold their leaders accountable. You can see from all the donations been generated to help fight the pandemic, people now hold their leaders accountable, from their local constituency representatives to their governors and to the president. Even in the family setting, people also hold themselves and family accountable for what they spend, why they make purchases and how they utilized such purchases.
These and so much more I believe to be the positive effects of the pandemic in Nigeria. They might not be too noticeable as the negative effects have more weight.
In conclusion, we are advised to fight this pandemic together and not to use these positive effects as an excuse for bad hygiene. Be clean, stay safe!
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