COVID-19 & ITS IMPLICATION ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The recent occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic took nations of the world by surprise, putting both the developing and developed nations into serious distress. The spread of this pandemic was facilitated by globalization through air, land, and sea travels. The effect of COVID-19, a part from the death toll, is the huge adverse effect on the socio-economies of states, mostly third world countries, like Nigeria. This is as a result of closure of market, companies, business outfits, leading to hunger, unemployment, restiveness, etc. Consequently, the intent of the work is to examine the socio-economic implications of COVID-19 on the economy of Nigeria. The study adopted the stratified random sampling technique. The population of the study was drawn from businesses from the Metropolis of three (3) states of the South-South, vis: Calabar, Uyo, and Port-Harcourt. A sample size of five hundred (500) respondents comprising male and female business people were drawn, using a simple survey design. The percentage of the sample represents 40% from Calabar, 30% from Uyo, and 30% from Port-Harcourt. The instrument for the study used questionnaire for data collection. Findings revealed that the outbreak of COVID-19 crumbled businesses in Nigeria, and therefore negatively affects the socio-economic development of Nigeria. The work therefore recommends that government should prioritize human security, mostly in times of peace, where there is no health security or disaster panic.

The work also recommends investment in agriculture to boost food production and food security. The overemphasizing and interest in military threats should be adjusted to give room for a framework of human security as a National policy.