Nigeria

Although the Nigerian government responded quickly to COVID-19, the pandemic tested its capacity to manage such a large-scale economic crisis. The government hurriedly imposed the lockdown, school closures and other emergency restrictions without adequate preparation and little consultation with appropriate stakeholders. Consequently, this had a detrimental effect on the Nigerian society at large but pertinently on the nation's most vulnerable people. While the government offered support in response to the downturn in economic activity and other effects of the emergency restrictions, these support schemes were often inadequate, failing to consider the needs of the most affected and vulnerable groups. People working in the informal sector, for example, felt the immediate effect of the movement restrictions as it upended their livelihoods. Given the pre-COVID-19 conditions, with falling per capita income, high inflation, and an overdependence on oil, the pandemic has placed the nation at a critical juncture.