CONCLUSION
This study analyzed the recent economic crisis in Nigeria. It showed that the spillover of COVID19 pandemic into Nigeria coupled with declining oil price, which were external shocks, caused to the economic crisis in Nigeria in 2020. The structural problems in Nigeria at the time prolonged the economic crisis. From the analysis above, the scope and severity of the economic crisis in Nigeria, caused by the fall in oil price and the COVID-19 pandemic, is a clear signal that growth and development reforms are needed in Nigeria. In retrospect, the Nigerian government was wise to use fiscal and monetary stimulus package as a partial solution to revive the falling aggregate demand during the pandemic. It used public money to slow the spread of coronavirus.
So far, the study has succeeded in examining the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on crime, poverty and unemployment in Nigeria and its threat to the actualization of the sustainable development goals. Generally, the study found that crime, poverty, and unemployment surged during the pandemic. Specifically, the study findings on crime show an increase in organized crime, rising level of cyber-crime, growing violent crime, extra-judicial killings as well as palliative fraud while fall in real Gross Domestic Product, agrifood system GDP, and spread of poverty to urban areas, were found to be the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on poverty. Similarly, the study findings on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment show that, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise was badly affected, people lost their jobs, underemployment and youth unemployment worsened during the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on crime, poverty and unemployment has multiplying effects on the attainment of sustainable development goals.
Based on the findings of the research about the relationship between poverty and ill-health with particular emphasis on the COVID-19 lockdown, the study concludes that the poor residents in major cities in Nigeria were facing serious hardship. The hardship resulted from the inability of the state and federal governments to create early awareness about the pandemic before it entered the country. This also resulted in unpreparedness among poor resident towards the lockdown and their low compliance.
The findings of the study have further extended the relationship between poverty and ill-health. The earlier thinking was that poor health of an individual brings about reduced income and expansion of poverty within the person’s family. From the outcome of the present study, we can submit that serious negative health condition within person’s environment can lead to reduction in the person’s income resulting in health-poverty trap. At this point, income status of an individual is not only strongly associated with his morbidity and mortality but the ill-health of the person or members of his society can negatively affect the individual’s income and economic status. This makes the poor to be more susceptible to ill-health and extreme poverty.
Therefore, the study suggests that there should be a better measure for prevention of the spread of COVID-19 or any other pandemic in future instead of total lockdown. Most time, the government of Nigeria copy what works in other climes out of context. Social capital in Europe and North America has been at low ebb before the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, their economic system is also different and as such it is easy to enforce total lockdown with high level of success over there. It is recommended that the new policy for prevention of the spreading of COVID-19 should involve imposition of curfew (between 5pm and 7am), compulsory washing of hands with soap, use of sanitizer every two hours possibly 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm and banning interstate movements within the period.
These require the involvement of village heads, community leaders, media houses, religious leaders and voluntary organizations to prompt the people. Africans are best driven by persuasion and not by force. The wearing of face mask should be made compulsory. The medical centres should be improved to provide excellent services not only to COVID-19 patients but also for other patients with different ailments. The testing of individuals should be intensified to identify healthy carriers of the disease and isolate them early. It is also important that essential services must be expanded to include farmers, food vendors, patrol station attendants, vehicles mechanics, motorcycle and tricycle taxi riders, researchers and traditional healers.
