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Wandia Njoya

Since the emergence of COVID-19 on the continent, African governments have had to decide whether, in addition to following WHO recommendations to test widely, contact trace, and quarantine, they would adopt draconian measures such as total lockdowns, stay at home to save lives campaigns, and travel and movement restrictions as has been done in European and Asian countries.

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Limiting the spread of Covid-19 in Africa: one size mitigation strategies do not fit all countries

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now established in Africa. To flatten the curve, some African governments have imposed stringent public health measures (lockdown) based on physical distancing to reduce transmission. However, the safety of this approach in poor communities has not been evaluated, and it is plausible that lives lost to lockdown could exceed those saved from COVID-19.

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Africa faces difficult choices in responding to Covid-19

With cases of novel coronavirus spreading worldwide, governments and institutions are getting ready for the first cases in Africa. On Jan 30, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic, centred in China, was a public health emergency of international concern.

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Africa prepares for coronavirus

Many countries in Africa are stepping up their preparedness to detect and cope with COVID-19 importations. Resources, intensified surveillance, and capacity building should be urgently prioritised in countries with moderate risk that might be ill-prepared to detect imported cases and to limit onward transmission.

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Preparedness and vulnerability of African countries against importations of Covid-19: a modelling study

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the status of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak from epidemic to a global pandemic. Several rapid diagnostic tests have been developed at an astonishing pace; however, COVID-19 requires more highly specific rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests.

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Research on current and emerging diagnostic tests available for the novel Covid-19 global pandemic

We speculate that while African nations are currently experiencing much lower rates of COVID-19 relative to other continents, their significantly lower testing rates may grossly underestimate incidence rates. Failure to grasp the true picture may mean crucial windows of opportunity shut unutilized, while limited resources are not deployed to maximum effect.

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Research on Covid-19: Are Africa’s diagnostic challenges blunting response effectiveness?

Countries in Eastern and Central Africa have been on high alert since mid-2018 in anticipation of regional spread of the Ebola virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo. With a new threat on the horizon, African countries have an opportunity to leverage the existing capacities for Ebola preparedness to brace for the imminent threat.

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Leveraging investments in Ebola preparedness for Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa

Although some west African countries have measures in place from the 2014 Ebola epidemic, the region includes some of the poorest countries in the world (according to World Bank data, nine of the 25 poorest countries are in the region). In addition, many west African countries have poorly resourced health systems, rendering them unable to quickly scale up an epidemic response.

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Covid-19 Pandemic in West Africa

I n South Sudan, all schools and churches have been closed to promote social distancing. In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a 3-week total lockdown of his country’s 57 million citizens. In Uganda, pop star Bobi Wine’s newly recorded song “Sensitise to Sanitise” is playing on radios throughout the country.

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Africa in the Path of Covid-19

Africa is boosting its capacity to respond to COVID-19, but lack of solidarity will cost lives. African countries are used to widespread testing for pathogens such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. This expertise can easily be adapted for SARS-CoV-2 testing.

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Let Africa into the market for Covid-19 diagnostics

The greatest concern for public health experts is whether COVID-19 will become a pandemic, with sustained year-round transmission.. What might happen to Africa—where most countries have weak health-care systems, including inadequate surveillance and laboratory capacity, scarcity of public health human resources, and limited financial means—if a pandemic occurs?

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Looming threat of Covid-19 infection in Africa: act collectively, and fast

The predecessor SARS-CoV was linked to similar climate conditions. Should the spread of SARS CoV-2 continue to follow current trends, a worst-case scenario of synchronous global pandemic is improbable. More probable is the emergence of asynchronous seasonal global outbreaks much like other respiratory diseases.

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Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus likely to be constrained by climate

The outbreak of COVID-19 in South Africa has brought about many socio-economic challenges, affecting everyone in all sectors of society. As the government proactively introduced steps to deal with the progression of the COVID-19 in South Africa, some of these measures included a total country lock-down. One of the most severely impacted sectors of society was employees from different organizations.

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A pragmatic inquiry into employee's lived experiences in relation to Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa

Lack of proper messaging at an outbreak of a novel disease causes panic with more serious damaging impacts on livelihoods, social-fabric of communities, economic landscapes, and political stability. There have been notable high levels of panic in South Africa and the globe with regard to the outbreak of COVID-19.

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The cause of panic at the outbreak of Covid-19 in South Africa - A comparative analysis of similar outbreak in China and New York

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our food systems. Despite increased efficiencies in producing and supplying large volumes of food, our current food systems have generated multiple adverse outcomes comprising high greenhouse gas emissions, persistent hunger, and livelihood stress for farmers around the world.

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Covid-19 and Food Security in Africa: Building more resilient food systems

Given the current trends in incidence and underlying healthcare systems vulnerabilities, Africa could become the next epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the pandemic transitions to more widespread community transmission, how can the lessons learned thus far be consolidated to effectively curb the spread of Covid-19?

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Covid-19 in Africa, the spread and response

Countries such as South Africa have limited intensive care unit (ICU) capacity to handle the expected number of patients with COVID-19 requiring ICU care. Remdesivir can prevent deaths in countries such as South Africa by decreasing the number of days people spend in ICU, therefore freeing up ICU bed capacity.

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The role of Remdesivir in South Africa: preventing Covid-19 deaths through increasing ICU capacity

High numbers of deaths were expected in the region due to fragile health systems, lack of access to preventive measures, barriers to testing, and potentially vulnerable populations. But, according to WHO, Africa is the least affected region globally, with 1·5% of the world's reported COVID-19 cases and 0·1% of the world's deaths.

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Covid-19 in Africa: no room for complacency

Latif Ndeketa

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The social and emotional impact of Nigeria's lockdown

This story was originally published on <a href="https://guardian.ng/features/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-nutrition-and-food-shortages-in-nigeria/">The Guardian Nigeria</a>, as written by Olufunmilayo Habibat Obadofin.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://dashboard.hurumap.org/outbreak-covid19/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/IMG_20190410_131302-e1590488895655-1786x1152-1-1-1024x660.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1051"/><figcaption>PHOTO: TONYE BAKARE</figcaption></figure>



One of the major concerns across the globe is the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on food security, as the United Nations World Food Program&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/covid-19-will-double-number-people-facing-food-crises-unless-swift-action-taken">UNWFP</a>&nbsp;warned that the number of people facing food insecurity may double by the end of the pandemic. Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease in Wuhan, China, and its widespread to many nations globally, a lot of countries have shut down their borders and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/02/coronavirus-spread-virus-disease-countries-epidemic/">restricted movement</a>&nbsp;within to control the spread.&nbsp;



&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1">Coronavirus disease</a>&nbsp;which is highly contagious has spread from a single case to over a hundred countries, infected 2,626,321&nbsp; persons, and caused&nbsp; 181,938 deaths. In&nbsp;<a href="https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/">Nigeria alone</a>&nbsp;(April 25, 2020), there are currently over 1000 cases and 30 deaths.&nbsp;



President Muhammed Buhari on March 29, 2020, declared a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/coronavirus/2020/03/29/covid-19-lagos-fct-ogun-state-to-go-into-lockdown/">total lockdown</a>&nbsp;in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos State, and Ogun State.&nbsp; Several state governments including Edo, Kano, Enugu, Bauchi, Kaduna, and Kwara states have also declared total lockdown.&nbsp;The ban includes a social association, mobility, non-essential economic, and leisure activities.



Though a grand measure to curb the spread, the national lockdown is having an economic effect that has led to tightening of credit access to farmers, limited access to inputs for farmers, limited access to transport services to transport food, and border closures limiting food imports. These constraints are beginning to have a ripple effect on food production and transportation, leading to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-06/key-food-prices-are-surging-after-virus-upends-supply-chains">hike in food prices&nbsp;</a>and limiting the population’s access to nutritious food.&nbsp;



There was already a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279742556_Food_Security_Challenges_in_Nigeria_A_Paradox_of_Rising_Domestic_Food_Production_and_Food_Import">shortage</a>&nbsp;of food supply for Nigeria’s growing population even before the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.&nbsp;<a href="https://globalnutritionreport.org/reports/global-nutrition-report-2018/appendix-3-countries-significant-multiple-forms-malnutrition/">WHO&nbsp; in 2018</a>&nbsp;reported that Nigeria is burdened by three key malnutrition indicators: anemia, overweight, and stunting.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/features/qa/malnutrition/en/">WHO</a>&nbsp;further defined malnutrition as the deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. Most often than not, the average Nigerian has misconstrued malnutrition to mean hunger, which however is an important predisposing factor to malnutrition.



In addition, the relatively poor performance of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fao.org/nigeria/fao-in-nigeria/nigeria-at-a-glance/en/">agriculture sector</a>&nbsp;in Nigeria has resulted in rising imports of food to cater to the need of the growing population of the nation. The nation faces gross food security challenges.&nbsp;



Case Study: Food Shortage and Hike in Food Prices in Lagos



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Since local production in the sector cannot meet the demands of the 200 million people in the country, augmenting with imported food has become a necessity. It is estimated that only about 100,000 tonnes of wheat are produced locally against an annual demand of over 3 million tones. The production of rice and fish which is highly consumed amongst Nigeria still falls below the quantity demanded. According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries%5Bsearch%5D=agricultural%20import">NBS</a>, between 2006 and the first half of 2019, Nigeria spent 38.24 billion Naira on agricultural goods import to augment domestic production. These goods include rice, sugar, wheat flour, fish, poultry, beef, milk, etc Despite the increase in rice production from an annual average of 7.1 million tons in 2013 and 2017 to 8.9 million tons in 2018, imported rice still finds its way to the country to feed the ever-growing population. With the closure of borders, it is only expected that the food supply for imported food will drop.



Locally, it is posited that the pandemic may also begin to impinge on food availability and supply. Speaking to one of the local farmers in Lagos State and an executive of the Amuwo Agric YES cooperative Agriculture Society Alhaja Badru, she lamented that she and her members have not been able to visit the farms since the lockdown, and even feared that hoodlums may begin to attack the little produce left on the land. In addition, restricted access to markets for farmers may also facilitate spoilage and wastage of highly perishable foods.&nbsp;She further explained that it’s currently a planting season for the wet season farmers across the country. Considering this information, and the restricted movement, agricultural experts have posited that shortage of labor, access to farming essentials such as fertilizer and seedlings will begin to affect productivity and consequently harvest in the long run.



Also from NBS statistics, the Consumer Price Index for most foods ranging from potatoes, yam, and other tubers, bread, to fruits and vegetables increased between March and April.



The People’s Experience With the lockdown due to COVID-19, food prices have drastically&nbsp;increased in the states across Nigeria.&nbsp; An interview with a residence&nbsp;of Abule-Ado, Mr. Abdulhafeez, in April 2020 further affirmed this information. Mr. Abdulhafeez informed us that a bowl of&nbsp;garri&nbsp;(1.3kg) which formally sells for 400 Naira is now being sold for 800 Naira ($2). Another residence and store owner in the area said that there has been an increase in the prices of foodstuff generally, and basic household needs such as milk, groundnut oil, and soup condiments.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://dashboard.hurumap.org/outbreak-covid19/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/DSCF9427-1536x1152-1-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1052"/><figcaption>PHOTO: TONYE BAKARE</figcaption></figure>



Ms. Haruna, a baker who lives at Berger,&nbsp; lamented that the prices for baking ingredients and other essential commodities increased.&nbsp; Going further,&nbsp; she told us that the prices of icing sugar increased from 5,500naira to 7,100naira. Even pure water increased from 12 bags for 1,000naira to 11 bags for 1,300naira. This is really affecting my business and I don’t think there is any good reason for this increase, she said during the interview.&nbsp;



Rotimi Akindele and Seyi Ayanwole who lived at Abule Egba and Ipaja respectively had similar experiences with the hike in food prices and also transport fare to get the foodstuffs. For these reasons,&nbsp; Rotimi said that he had to reconsider what was a priority for him. He explained that since having food in his stomach was most important, he decided to get foodstuff he could afford and skip consumption of fruits and some foods he considered to be luxury at the moment. Checking the quantity and quality of his food consumption was his mitigation plan



Mr. Adeyemi, a resident of Dopemu said he now spends double his usual family budget on foodstuffs. Mr.&nbsp; Adeyemi who has too little choices had to pay the exorbitant prices and wondered just how long Nigerians could keep up with this.



The drastic hike on food prices coupled with a reduced supply of imported food is a big strain on food consumption on Nigerians.



Impact on Nutrition <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/media/2181/file/Nigeria-NNHS-2018.pdf">Nigeria</a>&nbsp;still remains one of the worst-hit by malnutrition in the Sub Saharan region, with children and women in their reproductive age most affected. &nbsp; The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR359/FR359.pdf">2018 NBS&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Demographic Health Survey</a>&nbsp;revealed that 37% of children under age are stunted, 17% severely stunted and 7% wasted. 22% are underweight and 7% are severely underweight.&nbsp;



The situation has placed a need on all relevant Ministry, Department, and Agencies to delve into the issue of malnutrition in Nigeria and intervene accordingly.&nbsp;



In<a href="https://www.independent.ng/tag/dr-chris-osa-isokpunwu/">&nbsp;2017</a>, the head of the Nutrition Division, Federal Ministry of Health Chris Isokpunw projected that the country needs N279,536 billion naira ($912million) to address malnutrition in all states in five years.&nbsp;



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In spite of this, the budgetary allocation for health still remains low, and is, in fact, a far cry from the 15% recommendation of the World Health Organization and specifically spending on nutrition is far from the National Strategic Plan of Action which assumes that the Federal Government will provide ten million dollars annually. In 2017 and 2018, only 2.3 billion Naira ($5.9million) was allocated in the&nbsp;<a href="http://cs-sunn.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/10/Trend-Analyis-of-Health-Nutrition-Budget-2014-2019-abridged.pdf">national budget</a>&nbsp;for nutrition. In major states like Lagos and Kano, spendings projected for nutrition interventions constitutes less than 1% of the total annual budget, and per person, the budget falls less than a dollar.



With the pandemic, it is anticipated that the allocation to nutrition intervention will further reduce with resources directed at other activities such as the purchase of test kits, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), hazard allowance for frontline officers, etc. to combat the pandemic. Unfortunately, the malnourished populations are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.&nbsp;&nbsp;



What is the impact on current Interventions in Nigeria



According to World Bank&nbsp;<a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/24418">statistics,&nbsp;</a>66 million school children go to school hungry every day. In Nigeria, about<a href="https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/nutrition">&nbsp;2million children</a>&nbsp;suffer from acute malnutrition and the nation has the second highest burden of stunted growth in the world. It is against this backdrop that the school feeding program was developed to ease the percentage. The program whose objectives include providing food for children, especially the required dietary intake, has served over&nbsp;<a href="https://fmic.gov.ng/8-6m-pupils-benefit-from-national-school-feeding-programme-farouq/">8.6 million</a>&nbsp;Nigerian Children.&nbsp;Thirty states have currently joined this program, including the Lagos State government who joined January this year.&nbsp;



With the pandemic, the program which benefits a total of 774 public schools in Lagos state has been suspended due to the closure of schools. This has saddled the benefitting parents, especially low-income earners, with an increased responsibility to provide for these children. For those who cannot, the children would most likely have to go through the scourge of hunger and malnourishment until the pandemic is over putting them at greater risk of contracting and falling ill from&nbsp; Covid-19.



What can be done to address Food Shortage and curb Malnutrition?



Presently, it is important that the Nigerian government put in place measures to strengthen local food production and supply and in turn moderate the cost of food.



Beyond the pandemic, the Nigerian government must understand that Malnutrition is a scourge that requires essential proactive measures.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The huge impact of malnutrition transcends the human physical health to mental health, which consequently could affect the productivity and economic gains of the nation. Several pieces of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/diseasecontrol_emergencies/publications/idhe_2009_london_malnutrition_fenn.pdf">research</a>&nbsp;have equally established a link between&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1858706/">malnutrition</a>, and a predisposition to infectious diseases as well as noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer. With the alarming data on Nigerian’s malnutrition, it is only important that the proactive measures are quickened, and existing plans are strengthened.



Such measures include the inclusion and empowerment of young people to boost local production, increased&nbsp;use of arable land, and commercialization of agriculture. Other foundational and more tangible measures would also include a good understanding of malnutrition problems by states through thorough research for qualitative and quantitative data. This would enable an informed strategy on addressing the problems of malnutrition, especially as regards bridging gaps between the present situation and the ideal situation.&nbsp; It is also imperative that the government harnesses existing financial opportunities at the global level and also seeks local financing for action plans. In line with this, a deliberate effort to increase internal finances budgeted and spent on nutrition must be made and sustained.&nbsp; Strong development communication is also important for, and between farmers and relevant stakeholders&nbsp;for effective&nbsp;diagnosis and implementation of intervention strategy.



This Outbreak story was supported by the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pulitzercenter.org/">Pulitzer Center</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Code4Africa">Code for Africa</a>‘s&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/wanadata-africa">WanaData</a>&nbsp;women data science initiative.

Impact of Covid-19 on nutrition and food shortages in Nigeria

Broken girls and boys: Trapped in Covid-19 lockdown

This story was originally published on <a href="https://guardian.ng/features/impact-of-covid-19-on-nigerian-newsrooms/">The Guardian Nigeria</a>, as written by Olufunmilayo Habibat Obadofin.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://dashboard.hurumap.org/outbreak-covid19/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/AFP-NigeriaPapers-1-1-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1045"/><figcaption>People read newspapers sold in the streets in Nigeria / AFP PHOTO / STEFAN HEUNIS</figcaption></figure>



Over 160 days after the first case of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen">COVID-19</a>&nbsp;virus was reported, its outbreak has evidently propelled a huge disruption in individual routine and given rise to a global economic downtime. A popular feature of the economic downtime is the loss of jobs and pay cuts across various industries including aviation, health, finance, agro-allied as well as the Nigerian media industry.&nbsp;



The pandemic has caused media outlets in the country to experience a significant drop in revenue, as a result of a drop in sales and advertisement.



A reporter that was interviewed shared that the times are quite bad for her and the organization. This is because there has been a challenge in getting advertisements and in running other special projects to raise funds for financing the organization.



&nbsp;As of the time of the interview with her (June, 12), only a percentage of February salary has been paid. She added that the non-editorial staff is usually given preference with the payment of salary, as it is believed that editorial staff are more likely to get tips from clients than the non-editorial staff.



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Before Covid-19 outbreak, Nigeria had recorded a yearly increase in its&nbsp;<a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/unemployment-rate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">unemployment</a>&nbsp;rate, and the situation has further deteriorated with the pandemic.&nbsp;



According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/download/1111" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;conducted by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics and the World bank, more Nigerians in the lowest consumption quantiles have lost their jobs between April and May. Equally, there has been an income loss, especially for non-farm businesses.&nbsp;



On May 29, some staff of the&nbsp;<a href="http://mediacareerng.org/2020/05/30/layoffs-forced-resignation-leave-in-the-punch-the-nation-others/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Punch</a>&nbsp;Newspaper closed work with the sad news of either a termination of employment or a slash in salary. For those who could read between the lines, this has come as no surprise because before then, the newspaper outlet had reduced the pages of its newspaper from&nbsp;<a href="https://nairametrics.com/2020/05/22/newspapers-slash-salaries-by-50-reduce-print-pagination-by-45/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">48 to 32 pages</a>, the reason hinged on a rapid drop in readership due to the lockdown. Besides and according to a publication by&nbsp;<a href="https://nairametrics.com/2020/05/22/newspapers-slash-salaries-by-50-reduce-print-pagination-by-45/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nairametrics</a>&nbsp;the Managing Director, Ademola Osinubi had prevised the staff of the new development in a memo released earlier.&nbsp;



“This pandemic has dealt with our business telling and severe blows. Our circulation and advertisement revenues dipped dangerously, compounding the operational and revenue challenges birthed by the migration of a majority of print newspaper readers and adverts to digital platforms.



“I am not at liberty to disclose all of the measures that the management has taken so far. But the ones that could be made public include an immediate reduction in print pagination; staff furloughing to comply with government and expert advisories on social distancing; the temporary shutdown of the sports newspaper; and significant financial reengineering”.



“All projections point at a bleak and uncertain future for the media industry and the economy.”



This reality is also shared by other notable media houses in the country. According to a&nbsp;<a href="https://nairametrics.com/2020/05/22/newspapers-slash-salaries-by-50-reduce-print-pagination-by-45/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>&nbsp;by Nairametrics, the Nation newspaper has sacked 100 out of its about 500 workers across the nation. Other media outlets affected include the news-telegraph, Daily Independence newspaper, AIM group (owners of Nigeria Info., Cool FM, Wazobia, and Arewa) and even entertainment outlets such as&nbsp;<a href="https://technext.ng/2020/05/01/irokotv-drops-83-employees-in-nigeria-slashes-salaries-of-others-after-massive-revenue-loss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Iroko TV</a>. Beyond the loss of jobs and slash in pay; furlough and closure of media outlets are also dangers recently permeating the media industry.



The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) Lagos State Chapter Dr Akinreti in an interview confirmed that the media being a service industry is badly affected by the pandemic, and there has been a&nbsp; drastic fall in income for journalists and newsrooms. He added that only state-owned outlets are not as&nbsp; affected due to the provision of the state’s subvention.



According to him, some organizations have resorted to salary cut for employees ( as low as 20-40% of actual salary) and/or sending staff on a three months compulsory leave. Going further, he made it known that organizations who have taken these measures are equally not happy, but the present financial crisis has necessitated such actions. However, negotiations are ongoing to develop a mutual fair plan between organizations and employees. He said, “this is important as the financial downtimes are beginning to affect the morale of journalists”.



The narrative is not different in the global space, on May 27,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-52806115?__twitter_impression=true">BBC News</a>, reported the UK Financial times print sales falling by 39% in April, though advertising has not. Also, ITV’s advertising&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-52806115?__twitter_impression=true">revenue</a>&nbsp;fell by 42% in April, and FOX in the US dropped by 50%. A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/business/media/news-media-coronavirus-jobs.amp.html">survey</a>&nbsp;by the Network times reports that close to 36,000 media workers have been laid off, furloughed or had pay reduced.



Journalists, locally and globally, have played very active roles in updating the public on measures, best practices and other information to containing the spread of the Corona Virus.



Besides, the Nigerian Journalists also go through the sacrosanct responsibility of updating the citizens with variants of news stories on government activities, security issues, finances, politics, and election updates, etc. For this purpose, frequent movement around the cities, and towns, has been inevitable, and consequently, they are exposed to the risk of contracting the virus.



During the period of total lockdown, journalists were among essential workers authorized for movement to ease the execution of their jobs, which impact cannot be undermined in the fight against the pandemic. Even with this privilege, journalists have reported cases of harassment by Security Men in carrying out their constitutional duties. For instance, on May 19, several&nbsp;<a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/393767-curfew-how-police-arrested-journalists-health-workers-witness.html">journalists</a>&nbsp;along with other essential workers were reported to have been arrested by some of the Nigerian policemen in Lagos state.



The claim around harassment of journalists was consolidated by the Lagos state Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalist, Dr Akinreti. He said what ought to be a relationship of partners in progress has become a cat and mouse game. In his words, he said, “it’s unfortunate that security officers look at journalists as enemies”. He made a plea that security officers should begin to accord the press the respect they deserve and support them in the course of their work.



A journalist, from Daily Independence, also complained that she had been impeded in the course of her work. She recounted one of her experiences during an official assignment “I was on a despatch bike but on getting to Apagbon, Lagos Island bridge, the driver (a despatch rider from another newspaper house I met at my bus stop) was forcefully stopped and the police refused us access despite tendering our identity cards. I had to find my way down to my assignment venue at CMS.”



On October 14, 2019, Amnesty International released a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr44/9504/2019/en/">report</a>&nbsp;describing and condemning the treatment of Journalists by the Nigerian Authority.&nbsp; Some of the issues identified include charges of defamation for exposing corruption, on-air personality harassment, the accusation of journalists for cybercrime, stigmatization for investigative journalism, arrest for social media posts amongst others.&nbsp;



Similarly in 2016, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics in a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/pdfuploads/SDGs%20Nigeria_Final-1.pdf">report</a>&nbsp;informed that over four thousand (4000) journalists along some trade unionist and human rights advocates were either killed, kidnapped, tortured or arbitrarily detained just within a year&nbsp;



Regardless of the pandemic, the situation of shrinking press power has not doused down but rather has taken a new dynamic with the pandemic. An impingement to the work of the Nigerian Journalist that has been underreported is the direct and indirect censorship of some of the Covid-19 news updates. One of these is the action of the Nigerian Federal Government in its decision to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/over-80-journalists-barred-from-aso-rock.html">suspend</a>&nbsp;over 80 journalists from accessing the presidential villa. The Committee for the Protection of Journalist,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/cpj.org/2020/03/nigeria-imposes-harsh-restrictions-for-journalist/amp/">CPJ</a>&nbsp; reported that presently only 16 journalists both from private and public media outlets are allowed to the Villa. Although the action may be described to comply with the social distancing policy, it could affect the efficiency and promptness of the suspended media outlets in providing Nigerians with a direct update on the Federal Government efforts against COVID-19.



Instead of the suspension, a rotating schedule with more numbers of journalists, and the provision of more safety equipment to journalists could have been adopted.&nbsp;



Notwithstanding the increase in responsibilities and lesser pay cum labour, it is noteworthy to say that the Nigerian journalists have done remarkably well, in carrying out their constitutional responsibilities during this period.



Most of the broadcast stations have managed to sustain a series of informative programs both related to and outside the Covid-19 updates. Also, a lot of TV advertisements have been modified to fit the current realities. One notable achievement by Nigerian journalists is the data-driven report on the Nigerian government conditional cash transfer, a&nbsp; social intervention to reduce the impact of the pandemic on the poorest of the poor.&nbsp;<a href="https://gijn.org/2020/05/13/how-a-nigerias-icir-pushes-for-accountability-in-the-covid-19-response/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The report&nbsp;</a>provides the Nigerian public with an explicit outlay of the Nigerian government’s conditional transfer during the pandemic, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.icirnigeria.org/how-much-is-the-worth-of-a-nigerian-doctor-treating-covid-19-patients/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plight</a>&nbsp;of Nigerians doctors, and other health workers, some challenges faced by journalists during the pandemic amidst other applaudable information. Another is the prompt and regular debunking of fake news, by providing credible information about the Covid-19 virus.



Consequences of a Falling Newsroom



Ravaging the society, alongside the Covid-19 pandemic, is the voluminous fake news otherwise known as infodemic by the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.un.org/en/un-coronavirus-communications-team/un-tackling-%E2%80%98infodemic%E2%80%99-misinformation-and-cybercrime-covid-19" target="_blank">WHO</a>. From a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://bangkok.unesco.org/index.php/content/press-provides-antidote-fake-news-time-covid-19" target="_blank">UNESCO</a>&nbsp;statistics, in April alone, Facebook flagged 50million pieces of content, twitter challenged over 1.5 million users, while google blocked almost an 18 million scam email on Gmail all related to Covid-19. These facts have raised concerns over the impact of journalism in combating the peril of fake news and misinformation.



The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres highlighted the essential role of the press in combating fake news in his video&nbsp;<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063012" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">message</a>&nbsp;to mark the last World Press free day by his statement&nbsp; “the press provides the antidote; verified, scientific, fact-based news and analysis”



The statement of the UN Secretary-General reiterates the indispensable role of the journalists in fighting the infodemic. It is therefore important that we promptly and effectively work against any trial such as the current financial downtime that could deter the works of the journalists.&nbsp; Otherwise, the infodemic may overtake the Covid-19 pandemic in scarring human society.



Patently, the press also known as the fourth estate of the realm has played a role as the watchdog of the society in ensuring that duty bearers are accountable and as much as possible run a transparent and inclusive system with right holders. There have been countless testimonies to this end, most remarkable; the transition from a dictatorship regime to a democratic government, and forging further to preserve the inherent features of the democratic system. A continuous financial mess as we currently hold of the fourth estate would not only reduce the manpower and efficiency of the fourth estate but may as well lure whoever is left off or hurt from the financial tornado into a dirty compromise with any duty bearer willing to geese the palms. Hence a looming fear that the watchdogs are converted into pet dogs.



Furthermore, an unchecked stiffening of the press would deter the public from knowing and making sense of government activities, policies, and societal development especially as it affects them. Conjointly, the press begins to lose its relevance and vigour for which it is built.



Saving the Falling Newsrooms



The present financial jeopardy of newsrooms must be met with a hybrid of both local and global financial intervention to journalism and the media. Presently the Central Bank of Nigeria has committed a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/10198207" target="_blank">500billion naira</a>&nbsp;(3.3 billion dollars) to the aviation industry and spent over 3trillion naira in the last 8 years bailing out banks according to an investigation by the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sunnewsonline.com/cbn-spends-over-n3trn-in-8-years-bailing-out-banks/amp/" target="_blank">Daily Sun</a>. Similarly, such benevolence should be extended to the news and media industry.



Legal frameworks and actions that stiffen the freedom of the press should be knocked-off, whilst encouraging a more cordial relationship between the journalists and security officers.&nbsp;



Beyond the rhetorics, government ministries, departments, and agencies should support and ensure that journalists are granted quick and easy access to information at all times.



Outwith the pandemic, the Nigeria Union of Journalism must institutionalize and enforce a substantial and clever welfare scheme for its members. This inter alia includes better remuneration, research allowance, and hazard allowance. Media outlets should also explore the option to launch and/or improve their online presence to retain readership and advert.



This Outbreak story was supported by the <a href="http://www.pulitzercenter.org/">Pulitzer Center</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Code4Africa">Code for Africa</a>‘s&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/wanadata-africa">WanaData</a>&nbsp;women data science initiative.

Impact of Covid-19 on Nigerian newsrooms

This story was originally published on <a href="https://guardian.ng/features/inadequate-ppe-supply-a-health-risk-to-the-frontline-workers-in-africa-amidst-the-covid-19-pandemic/">The Guardian Nigeria</a>, as written by Adaugo Trinitas Onyebuchi.



“We rarely sleep”;&nbsp;“we constantly monitor patients on ventilators in the intensive unit, attend to emergencies, take samples, and check on stable patients three times daily”; “the possibility of getting infected is always in my consciousness, I know it can happen, so I tend to be more careful. It is more of a conscious reality than fear”; “I know that each day, my life is on the line. I know it every day that I go out, but I am not afraid” narrates healthcare workers at the LUTH isolation center, according to a report by&nbsp;<a href="https://healthwise.punchng.com/mycovid19naijastory-doctors-drivers-others-narrate-what-working-in-isolation-centres-looks-like/">Tessy Igomu</a>.&nbsp;For many of us, leaving our homes is now accompanied by the fear of being exposed to the Coronavirus (Covid-19). It is even harder to now imagine the anxiety felt by the healthcare workers, who are at the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the pressure on them to protect themselves from being infected with the virus.



Since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen">the outbreak</a>&nbsp;of Covid-19, which was first reported to the WHO country office in China on the 31st of December 2019 and declared a public health emergency of concern on the 30th of January 2020, there has been an increasing demand on health care services. It has also placed more responsibilities on health care workers and has increased the demand for Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) around the world. Every day,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200603-covid-19-sitrep-135.pdf?sfvrsn=39972feb_2">thousands of Covid-19</a>&nbsp;cases are reported in Africa and across the World. On June 5, Africa reported a total of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-4a11d568-2716-41cf-a15e-7d15079548bc">169,646 confirmed Covid-19</a>&nbsp;cases with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-4a11d568-2716-41cf-a15e-7d15079548bc">90,993 active cases</a>. Therefore, healthcare workers are working tirelessly attending to Covid-19 patients and are hence dependent on PPE to lower their risk of infection.&nbsp;



According to WHO,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/whr/2006/06_chap1_en.pdf">healthcare workers</a>, including doctors, nurses, and community health agents, responsible for protecting the health of their community, should use contact and droplet precaution. This should be done by wearing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">PPEs&nbsp;</a>such as disposable gloves to protect hands; clean, non-sterile, long-sleeve gown to protect clothes from contamination; medical masks to protect nose and mouth; and eye protection (e.g., goggles, face shield)&nbsp;when attending to COVID-19 patients and should have an in-depth&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200505164637.htm">understanding</a>&nbsp;of how to use them. For example,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-on-infection-prevention-and-control-for-health-care-workers-caring-for-patients-with-suspected-or-confirmed-2019-ncov">WHO</a>&nbsp;recommends that “Health care workers collecting Nasopharyngeal (NP) and Oropharyngeal (OP) swab specimens from suspected or confirmed Covid-19 patients should be well-trained on the procedure and should wear a clean, non-sterile, long-sleeve gown, a medical mask, eye protection (i.e., goggles or face shield), and gloves. The procedure should be conducted in a separate/isolation room, and during NP specimen collection, health care workers should request the patients to cover their mouth with a medical mask or tissue”.



Unfortunately, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">demand for PPE now exceeds supply</a>, endangering the lives of healthcare workers. In March 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">WHO</a>&nbsp;shipped half a million sets of PPE to 47 countries but supply was still insufficient. In the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unicef.org/supply/stories/covid-19-impact-assessment-and-outlook-personal-protective-equipment">first quarter of 2020</a>, over 6.4 million gloves, 1 million gowns, and 1.8 million surgical masks were delivered by the United Nations across the world. Nevertheless, the gap between supply and demand is still enormous. Each month, an estimated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">89 million</a>&nbsp;medical masks are required for the Covid-19 response. Hoarding, panic buying, and misuse of PPE have contributed to the shortage in its supply,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">globally.</a>



Healthcare workers in Africa are also at risk as a result of these shortages in PPE and as the number of cases rises, it still remains a major source of concern. According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/covid-19-frontline-workers-nurses-share-stories/">SABC News</a>, nurses in South Africa are concerned about their exposure to the virus as they do not have adequate access to PPE. In the report, a nurse laments, “I am very afraid because we don’t have any masks, they promised us they will come but meanwhile we are working unprotected and the community still comes in numbers to the clinic. The challenges are lack of protective gear and the government hasn’t conducted training, we haven’t gone for training on how to deal with the coronavirus”.



In April, IOL&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/no-nurse-will-become-a-covid-19-sacrificial-lamb-denosa-warns-govt-over-ppe-shortages-46869183">reported</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/no-nurse-will-become-a-covid-19-sacrificial-lamb-denosa-warns-govt-over-ppe-shortages-46869183">Lekhoathi,</a>&nbsp;the general secretary of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), lamented that, “the shortage of PPE is a nightmare to Nurses”.&nbsp;



Dr. Ruth Mary Namyalo,&nbsp;a pharmacist&nbsp;in Uganda, explained that “transportation challenges, caused by the lockdown, have limited their access to PPE. The National Medical stores which supply government-aided facilities have a warehouse in the central business district and no regional stores throughout the country so all facilities have to rely on delivery from the main warehouse”.&nbsp;She added that&nbsp;“before the Covid-19 situation, there wasn’t a single production facility for face masks in Uganda, so we had to rely on imports and since almost the entire world was in lockdown it took time to have them delivered to the country and due to its high demand, we were disadvantaged”.



According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unicef.org/supply/stories/covid-19-impact-assessment-and-outlook-personal-protective-equipment">UNICEF</a>, the need for PPE may reach 2.2 billion surgical masks, 13 million goggles, 1.1 billion gloves, and 8.8 million face shields through the end of the year 2020. In addition, as the lockdown is relaxed across Africa, there is a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/05/global-report-south-africa-records-biggest-jump-in-covid-19-cases-since-pandemic-hit">hike</a>&nbsp;in the number of cases, thereby increasing the exposure of healthcare workers, without PPE, to the infection.



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In Africa, there are over 2 million doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and community healthcare workers with nursing personnel accounting for 60% of all the healthcare workers. In Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa alone there are about&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.who.int/nhwaportal/Home/Index">370,000 plus healthcare workers</a>&nbsp;including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists. Nigeria and South Africa have a strong network of about&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.who.int/nhwaportal/Home/Index">116,454</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.who.int/nhwaportal/Home/Index">51,616</a>&nbsp;community health agents respectively. In Nigeria, these community workers have also been on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.afro.who.int/news/nigerias-polio-community-health-agents-take-covid-19-detection">frontline</a>&nbsp;of fighting Covid-19, going door to door to educate families about Covid-19 and to detect and report early symptoms of Covid-19 in the communities.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.afro.who.int/news/nigerias-polio-community-health-agents-take-covid-19-detection">Their</a>&nbsp;efforts have led to an increase in healthy practices, such as hand washing and social distancing in northern communities. However, their families are concerned about their exposure and safety. As the cases rise, these healthcare workers, without adequate access to PPE will be exposed to Covid-19 infection.&nbsp;



In Africa, assuming each current active&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-4a11d568-2716-41cf-a15e-7d15079548bc">90,993</a>&nbsp;(June 5) Covid-19 patient/case requires medical care and should be attended to by an average of 6 healthcare workers per day, the continent would have a compulsory daily need for at least 545,958 PPE kits including face shields, goggles, apron, medical masks, and gloves. However, due to limited local capacity to ramp up PPE production, and the current supply and demand dynamics including hoarding, misuse, and panic buying, the continent is not meeting the demand for PPE by its health sector.



There is, therefore, an urgent need for the stakeholders in the public and private sectors to collaborate to meet the rising demand for PPE. It is time for Africa to look inwards to increase its local PPE supply. There is an untapped potential of local producers in African countries with the capacity to ramp up PPE supply in the continent. Currently,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unicef.org/supply/stories/covid-19-impact-assessment-and-outlook-personal-protective-equipment">China</a>&nbsp;is the largest producer of finished products of PPE including its raw materials, followed by Taiwan. Before the pandemic, China and Taiwan were respectively responsible for about 50% and 20% of the supply of surgical/face masks globally. However, with the pandemic, travel, import and export restrictions, the movement of goods across countries and continents have been affected.



Recommendations to Increase Access to PPE



In order to boost local production,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">the government</a>&nbsp;should incentivize local manufacturing companies to increase their production.&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/17/africa/hand-made-coronavirus-kits-nigeria-spc/index.html">Tailors</a>&nbsp;may be supported with grants to increase their capacity to make face masks, aprons, and hospital gowns. According to&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/17/africa/hand-made-coronavirus-kits-nigeria-spc/index.html">CNN</a>,&nbsp;Queen Duruibe, a tailor in Aba, produces over 10,000 hypoallergenic face masks a day using cotton and polypropylene, leveraging funding support from Abia state government.&nbsp;



In an interview with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ugochi-obidiegwu-1353b653">Ugochi Obidiegwu</a>, a health and safety consultant, she highlighted that&nbsp;“we have majorly relied on importation to get PPE from other countries, most especially China. With the restriction of travel in this pandemic, it affected the availability, and PPE is really important for our frontline workers”. She&nbsp;also highlighted that “stakeholders must support and patronize local production. Artisans in Aba have over the past few months worked hard to produce various types of PPE to support medical personnel. This should be encouraged”.



<a href="https://populationstat.com/nigeria/aba">Aba</a>, an Eastern Nigeria city, home to 1,078,495 people, has a popular market known as Ariara international market, which is known for its local manufacturing capacity. This market will be a good resource for ramping up the production of PPE in Nigeria and for other African countries. Investors may partner with major manufacturers in the market to train more workers, purchase more equipment, to produce more face masks, aprons, hospital gowns, and hand gloves, for healthcare workers.



<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">African National leaders</a>&nbsp;may also ease interstate movement, export, and import restriction to support the distribution of PPE across states and countries.



More so, non-governmental organizations, including philanthropies and foundations should support manufacturing companies to increase their production by 40 percent as recommended by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide">WHO</a>. This support may be in the form of equipment donation, subsidy for power supply, and financing to increase their access to raw materials.&nbsp;



In addition, healthcare workers, both in urban and rural health facilities, must be trained to understand how to use PPEs. Government bodies through policies should institute mandatory health and safety education covering how to use PPE, highlighting best practices during testing for or attending to Covid-19 patients. Health facilities should be mandated to have&nbsp;<a href="https://safestart.com/news/5-tips-effective-toolbox-talk/">toolbox meetings</a>,&nbsp; a common practice that reinforces safety and health standards amongst a group of workers, to provide timely health and safety reminders to healthcare workers.



Health facilities should adopt the&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331498/WHO-2019-nCoV-IPCPPE_use-2020.2-eng.pdf">WHO’s recommended guidelines</a>&nbsp;for maximizing the use of PPE. This includes the use of telemedicine to evaluate Covid-19 suspected cases limiting their contact with healthcare facilities; the use of physical barriers at hospital triage areas such as registration desks and the pharmacy collection points; and by restricting healthcare workers from entering the rooms of Covid-19 patient if they are not attending to them.



As outlined by Dr. Tedros&nbsp;Adhanom, WHO director-general, during the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ehstoday.com/health/media-gallery/21126031/8-quotes-from-the-world-health-organizations-covid19-media-briefing">WHO media briefing</a>&nbsp;to declare Covid-19 a global pandemic, “this is the first pandemic caused as a result of a coronavirus, it is also the first pandemic that can be controlled”. Therefore, Africa has to put in the best of its ability to control the exposure of its front line workers.



This Outbreak story was produced in partnership with the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pulitzercenter.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pulitzer Center</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Code4Africa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Code for Africa</a>‘s&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/wanadata-africa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WanaData</a>&nbsp;women data science initiative.

Inadequate PPE and the risks to frontline health workers

How e-learning leaves behind the poor and vulnerable

This story was originally published on <a href="https://thefact.ng/the-econimic-repercussion-of-coronavirus-pandemic-on-nigerians/">The Fact Nigeria</a>, as written by <a href="https://thefact.ng/the-econimic-repercussion-of-coronavirus-pandemic-on-nigerians/">Olatokewa Ayoade</a>.



As the reality of the coronavirus pandemic dawns on Nigeria, the country, like the rest of the world has begun canceling events, flights, and virtually everything that requires social, official, and religious gatherings.



The impact of these measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus has hit the economy too. These impacts are likely to cripple the economies of most countries and may lead to the collapse of fragile economies.



Nigeria’s economy is facing collapse as it largely depends on oil exports. The oil markets have been on a downward trend as Covid19 has crippled demand. Fuel prices fell and recorded 18-year low trading at less than 22 dollars per barrel and expected to go lower.



To salvage the situation and enable ease of business in Nigeria despite the pandemic, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), through Godwin Emefiele at the ‘Growth 2.0 Meeting’ held in Abuja on March 15TH and at the ‘Banker’s Committee Meeting’ on March 20th in Lagos, announced “policy measures such as the additional moratorium of one year on CBN intervention facilities, interest rate reduction on intervention facilities from 9% to 5%; the activation of the N1.5 trillion InfraCo Project for building critical infrastructure; the strengthening of lending to deposit ratio policy, additional N100 Billion naira intervention in healthcare loans to pharmaceutical companies; and the N1 trillion loan to boost local manufacturing and production across critical sectors”.



At the popular Sahad stores at Area 11 in Abuja, on March 21st, Aminat Waziri, a mother of 4 lamented of visiting four stores in search of bread, as all the bread shelves were empty.



‘Walahi, mothers need help at this time to keep children at home with little money and no food’,



The Economic Impact of the Pandemic on Citizens



The presidential order for a lockdown over a two-week period, effective from March 30th had more adverse effects on the economy of the country. Most private organizations laid-off workers and the few that remained had their staff salaries slashed.



The media houses were not left out, one out of many is the Punch newspapers that laid off about 40 staff at the end of May because adverts were not coming as it used to maintain staff overhead cost.



Most hotels that closed counted losses for maintenance, while staff, most of whom are breadwinners, were laid off since March 2020. The effect will no doubt have a great impact on paying their bills and managing their family.



Mr. Ukamaka Donatus, a chief with a five-star hotel in Abuja, who has a family of 5, lamented that he was laid off unexpectedly after he was paid his march salary.



Aside from this, people’s purchasing power has drastically dropped due to no money in circulation.



In addition, the price of goods has skyrocketed. Many essential products like water and food items doubled in price due to panic buying and hoarding as supplies cannot meet the demand.



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A loaf of bread which is for the common man, formerly sold between 300-350 Naira is now sold for 400-450 Naira. A basket of tomatoes that was sold for 500-600 Naira before the coronavirus pandemic now ranges between 1,700 and 1,800 Naira.



Likewise, a kilo of meat increased in cost from 1000 to 1,500 Naira on the average. A sachet of pure water that is essential in every home doubled in price from N100 naira to N150 to N200.



Before the coronavirus epidemic, 100 ml of hand sanitizer was sold at 350 Naira, but now are sold at triple its initial cost. A store owner at a supermarket in Garki district, Emeka IME, said they cannot be blamed because they bought it at double its price “Madam, nobody fit say as the price they go up, my oga sef buy am very cost”.



The cost of transportation also increased. As a result of the social distancing measures, it became mandatory for public vehicles to reduce the number of passengers carried at a time. Due to this requirement, few commercial drivers plying the road increased the fare cost to meet the shortfall of the limited numbers it conveys per time.



Business owners, especially small businesses that survive on daily sales, can no longer meet their daily family needs due to the lockdown that led to the closure of shops and businesses that do not provide essential services.



According to PWC, Nigeria’s SMES account for 96% of businesses and 84% of employment, posing a severe risk to small businesses. The impact of the epidemic on small businesses is leading to low turnover and the laying off of staff.



A good example is Peace Hope, who works in the hospitality sector. She was laid off after getting her March salary because the hotel had low patronage since the coronavirus outbreak. This sack case is one out of many in private businesses.



Aside from small businesses, some states like Adamawa, in the northern region of Nigeria issued a circular that they will not be able to pay March salary due to small allocation from the government as a result of a downturn in the sale of crude oil. These may also be the case with other states that did not make public announcements about their struggle to pay salaries of workers.



The effect of the pandemic has been predicted to linger on till three to six months, which will further affect more small businesses and in turn more citizens. As a result, consumers will have low purchasing power as some small businesses will be affected due to low turnout of sales and reduced economic activities. Even some states like Adamawa, in the northern region of Nigeria, issued a circular that the state will not be able to pay March salary due to poor allocation received from Excess crude account from the Federal Allocation because of the fall in the crude oil price.



Now with the nation in total lockdown, the effect will be more adverse as economists have predicted that the effects of the pandemic might last between three to six months.



Effects on the Nation’s Income



The Nigerian government can no longer meet the targeted demand of crude oil benchmark of $57 per barrel to fund the 2020 budget as the fall in crude price has made it to reduce the benchmark to $30, a gap of 27 Naira, which is a deficit, aside from slashing 1.5 trillion Naira in order to make the budget realistic. Stock markets as a result of the global crisis are falling daily as the world’s economy is crashing.



Most economies, like the United States, are already in recession, which automatically affects investing in stock markets. In addition, every nation and economy is looking for relief funds for survival and to cushion the effect of the pandemic rather than thinking of investment.



In all, the gross domestic output is at the receiving end, as Nigeria’s GDP before the crisis was below the one dollar per day for an average citizen and a country that is already in debt and facing coronavirus epidemic crisis without external shock, because, according to the last Federal Allocation committee meeting on March 23rd, where federal government distributes revenue to states and local government from the proceeds of crude oil, it lamented of low revenue because crude oil benchmark has fallen. With all these, the effect on the economy is high.



As the world economy slowly stops, there is a need for Nigeria to pick its own rubles to help its citizenry. Governments all over the world are giving bailout funds to stimulate their economies.



What are the bailout options considered for Nigerians by their government? In recognition of the global impact of COVID-19 on economies and the need to stimulate and positively turn around our economy, the Federal Government has been implementing various stimulus packages offered to businesses and state Governments through the CBN.



These include a reduction in the interest rates from 9 percent to 5 percent for all CBN intervention facilities; a restructuring of loans to longer tenors for all sortscompanies whose businesses are adversely impacted by COVID-19; an N50 Billion facilities to household and businesses adversely impacted by COVID-19 through NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank; an N100bn facility to Pharmaceutical and health sectors companies to retool their businesses; an N1 trillion facility to Agric and Manufacturing companies to expand and set up new factories; and a suspension of repayment of all state government loans for one year to give states ample financing room to pay salaries.



At the monthly Federal Executive meeting and the Ministry of Finance media briefing in March 2020, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ahmed Zainab announced the reduction in the price of premium motor spirit in petroleum to 125 Naira, a 20 Naira reduction, which they believe will cushion the effect aside from ongoing economic policies like reducing the recurrent in the 2020 budget by 25percent and capital by 20percent, oil price at 24 Naira, lowest in 17 years as the new benchmark is now 30 dollar per barrel and a cut in budget with 1.5 trillion Naira.



Also, the president in a Nationwide message on Sunday, March 29th, 2020, announced some stimulus package for small businesses which are two months arrears for those benefiting from small grants for small businesses, which are the ‘Trader Moni and Farmer Moni’ to further cushion the effect of the hardship as a result of the pandemic on small businesses.



Should we say these measures can cushion the effect of the coronavirus on Nigeria’s economy and her citizens? What could be the solution at this critical stage of the ravaging epidemic?



Economic Analyst, Elechukwu Bristol, urged the government “to reduce Nigeria’s high budget cost by cutting down overheads in government salaries and block leakages in corrupt public offices like customs so that they can generate enough to fund the economy to cushion the effects by providing stimulus package while the little money in the purse can be used to service essential sectors.



“Not forgetting that the expected funds are supposed to come from borrowing and taxes, with this effect on the economy, the expectations are now dashed”.



With the challenge of no capacity by the government for price control of goods, artificial scarcity has set in, and the price of goods doubled due to panic buying.



This Banker, Gabriel Idakolo strongly advised the government to spend on areas that can generate internal businesses that will grow the economy, like the agriculture and manufacturing sector with a tax exemption for the producers and manufacturers of essential products while commending the releases of some funds by the CBN, he said the solution to the high cost of imported goods is to support manufacturers to strengthen local production by releasing more funds for them to be able to produce to full capacity for local consumption.



“With the challenge of the pandemic, the government can focus on states that have a comparative advantage in the production of some product and support them with funds to produce to maximum capacity, especially manufacturers in Aba, the eastern region of Nigeria”.



“With limited access to inter border trade, it is time to maximize local production”.



He noted that aside from local production of goods, the government should also look into reduction in interest rate to encourage production and keep the economy flowing.



Meanwhile, some economic analysts are calling for a devaluation of the Naira to complement other initiatives of the government.



Professor of Economics, Mike Obada from the University of Benin, calls for tax cuts, rent reduction, a bailout for state governors to pay salaries to cushion the effect of low production.



“Says the consequences are grave on the economy. The impact on Nigeria at the moment is a micro impact due to dependence on crude oil and exchange rate, naira revenue and foreign exchange earnings have reduced drastically which is having an impact on the fiscal challenge on naira revenue and foreign exchange”.



“There is a need for a micro response in which some monetary measures can help through this period”.



One question still begging for an answer is: As the country’s debt financial crisis worsens due to the Corona crisis, with more borrowing, will Nigeria use more than half of the revenue to service debt?



This Outbreak story was produced in partnership with <a href="http://www.pulitzercenter.org/">Pulitzer Center</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Code4Africa">Code for Africa</a>’s <a href="https://medium.com/wanadata-africa">WanaData</a> women data science initiative.

The economic effects of Covid-19 on Nigeria

The Troubled Suspected COVID-19 Intermediary Host

This story was originally published on <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/395296-amidst-covid-19-lockdown-nigeria-sees-increased-sexual-and-gender-violence.html">Premium Times Nigeria</a>, as written by <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/author/ejiro-umukoro">Ejiro Umukoro</a>.



Twenty-two-year-old Halima Bulama had just returned from the marriage ceremony of her relation mid-April in Kasaisa community in Damaturu, Yobe State, in northeast Nigeria when her husband, 22-year-old Ba’ari Abacha, in a fit of rage attacked her.



Mr Abacha said his wife disobeyed him in attending the ceremony, and as punishment hacked off the woman’s right hand with a machete, according to the police.



At the teaching hospital in Damaturu where she was taken to for treatment, Halima said her husband was quick-tempered and vowed not return to her husband in Kasaisa, one of hundreds of vulnerable communities in this Boko Haram-plagued region. “If he can cut off my hand then he can easily kill me,” she said.



The suspect, a nomad, told police he acted because of his wife’s “immoral disobedience to marital ethics.”



“She has been travelling without my permission. But as matter of fact, it was out of anger I did this. I regretted my action,” he said in the local Kanuri language at the police station.



Such attacks are common in Nigeria where violence against women remains a problem despite growing campaign against it. But recent lockdowns imposed by the federal and states governments across the country to curtail the spread of coronavirus, has caused a spike in incidents that target women and children, activists say. This is because the restrictions have forced vulnerable persons to stay more closely to their attackers.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://i1.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2020/05/IMG-20200423-WA0004-e1590854377144.jpg?ssl=1"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2020/05/IMG-20200423-WA0004-e1590854377144-466x349.jpg?resize=466%2C349&ssl=1" alt="Ba’ari Abacha says he hacked his wife's hand because she disobeyed and attended a relative's wedding in northern Nigeria." class="wp-image-395300"/></a><figcaption>Ba’ari Abacha says he hacked his wife’s hand because she disobeyed and attended a relative’s wedding in northern Nigeria.</figcaption></figure>



<h5>Abiola</h5>



Akiode-Afolabi, who is the director of Lagos-based&nbsp;<a href="https://wardcnigeria.org/">Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre</a>, said since the lockdown started, the most common gender-based violence reports recorded by her organisation have been spousal violence, landlord-tenant violence, neighbour-to-neighbour violence, and parent-children abuse. Others are homeowner-house help violence, boyfriend-girlfriend violence, violence on widows, police-sex worker violence, police-citizen violence, visitor-caught-in-lock-down child rape.



The Lagos State government-run&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dsvrtlagos.org/">Domestic and Gender Violence Response Team</a>&nbsp;said it has been inundated with increased reports of sexual and domestic violence since the lockdown started late March. Most states have since relaxed the restrictions but many offices and schools have yet to fully reopen



The Lagos team, set up to carry out physical interventions, has moved online, using phones, social media, 24/7 web chat to reach people in abusive situations who need help. In exceptional cases, the team goes out to rescue children who may have been abused, and women who need assistance in abusive relationships.



Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, who leads the team, said at the peak of the lockdown in Lagos, the group on average received 13 new cases daily. In March alone, it received 390 reports.



Mrs Vivour-Adeniyi said there has been 60 per cent increase in domestic violence, 30 per cent rise in sexual violence, and 10 per cent increase in physical child abuse.



<figure><iframe src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/2363419/embed#?secret=pQC4uHdTZa" height="575" width="604"></iframe></figure>



Lagos government-run Domestic and Gender Violence Response Team reports 60 per cent increase in domestic violence, 30 per cent rise in sexual violence, and 10 per cent increase in physical child abuse.



<h5>Global problem</h5>



The&nbsp;<a href="https://eige.europa.eu/">European Institute for Gender Equality</a>&nbsp;says although women and men experience gender-based violence, the majority of victims are women and girls. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/raises-alarm-police-brutality-covid-19-lockdowns-200428070216771.html">United Nations recently raised an alarm</a>&nbsp;regarding the increase in reported cases of domestic and gender-based violence, directly attributed to forced proximity occasioned by lockdowns.



“Even before COVID-19 existed, domestic violence was already one of the greatest human rights violations. In the previous 12 months, 243 million women and girls (aged 15-49) across the world have been subjected to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/directorate/executive-director/ed-bio">Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka</a>, Executive Director of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en">UN Women</a>&nbsp;in April.



“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, this number is likely to grow with multiple impacts on women’s wellbeing, their sexual and reproductive health, their mental health, and their ability to participate and lead in the recovery of our societies and economy.”



A study commissioned by Nigeria’s ministry of women’s affairs and social development and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unfpa.org/">UNited Nations Population Fund (UNPFA)</a>&nbsp;Nigeria, with support from the Norwegian Government, found that 28 per cent of Nigerian women aged 25-29 have experienced some form of physical violence since age 15. The study also reported that 15 per cent of women experienced physical violence within 12 months, while 25 per cent of married women or those living with their spouses have experienced violence.



<h3>READ ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-west/381758-ekiti-pdp-crisis-police-unable-to-identify-hoodlums-who-attacked-secretariat.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ekiti PDP Crisis: Police unable to identify hoodlums who attacked secretariat</a></h3>



The most common acts of violence against women in Nigeria include sexual harassment, physical violence, harmful traditional practices, emotional and psychological violence, socio-economic violence, and violence against non-combatant women in conflict situations.



Victims of these incidents face additional challenge with the lack of structural social service systems in place in Nigeria, access to hotlines and shelters. Also, civil society groups and nongovernment organisations specialised in providing support and legal expertise are few.



“The lockdown itself has become the trigger,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiola_Akiyode-Afolabi">Ms Akiode-Afolabi</a>. “From what we have been seeing in terms of statistics of the COVID-19 spread across the world, the lockdown has become a major challenge in the sense that women who ordinarily go to work in the morning and come back in the evening are now being locked down with an abuser they’ve been living with and have been trying as much as possible to avoid overtime.”



These attacks have also grown in other African countries. In Cote D’Ivoire where the government’s response to COVID-19 is a partial lockdown,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.c-r.org/who-we-are/people/barbara-sangare">Barbara Sangare</a>, a gender activist and coordinator of WPS Tool, said gender violence has increased. Ms Sangare narrated how a woman was thrown from the third floor of a tall building in the capital Abidjan after being beaten late at night by her partner. Due to the nation’s curfew, she could not get help until the police came to pick her up in the morning.



<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Peters">Caroline Peters</a>, a Gender and Community Advocate in South Africa, during a recent webinar said violence against women has gone up 70 per cent in her country.



“Xenophobic attacks against foreign women who are refugees or asylum seekers have increased and gangsterism within many homes have become high with husbands beating and compelling their wives to fund their drug habits and violent behaviour. Withdrawal symptoms among men who are users is commonplace. Because they no longer have access to their drugs, they lash out on their wives and children within the home,” she said.



<h5>Difficult to get help</h5>



Activists say the lockdown has made it difficult for abused women to easily and quickly report attacks or reach the police. The walking distance to the police station and delayed response from the police is a big challenge.



Data compiled by Mirabel Centre, a Lagos-based sexual assault referral centre, show that ironically, while cases of attacks increased, reports from victims fell during the lockdown.



<figure><iframe src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/2361347/embed#?secret=nWZtnCH9DU" height="575" width="604"></iframe></figure>



Data compiled by Mirabel show that ironically, while cases of attacks increased, reports from victims fell during the lockdown.



In many localities, without money to pay the police and without proper legal and literacy support, reporting a case and filing paperwork at the police station is also a cumbersome affair for the average woman.



Ms Peters said a woman’s state of mind after an attack makes her even more vulnerable at the police station. And when women get access to intervention phone lines, they find it difficult to speak on the phone because their abuser is only an earshot away, leaving many women to suffer in silence. Although WhatsApp is one of the cheapest communication tools to reach out for help, lack of data and internet access make it difficult for abused women to seek help in communities where these are absent.



Gina Nzengue, a radio presenter in Gabon, said during lockdown complaints were rife from radio callers who said hotlines provided by the government were not being picked up, leaving many disillusioned about help coming their way.



“Economic and psychological violence are the most common effects of the lockdown in Gabon, as all cities in the country are under lockdown,” she said.



<h5>Enabling Factors</h5>



There are key indicators domestic violence, according to Mrs Vivour-Adeniji, the coordinator of DSVRT.



“We must remember that domestic violence thrives because one party wants to control or dominate the other. You have instances where because there’s a lack of control, you now have the violence that is meted out in the form of physical, verbal, emotional, sexual, economic, or otherwise.”



Reasons given for domestic violence range from lack of effective communication between parties, unrealistic expectations of marriage, or lack of sexual satisfaction. The inability to express lack of sexual satisfaction can also degenerate to violence. Other reasons include financial pressure or burdens. In some cases, when a financially empowered woman is in a relationship with a partner with lower income and low self-esteem – this power dynamic can become an issue with a partner already suffering from low self-esteem coupled with poor communication.



While these reasons exist, Mrs Vivour-Adeniji argued that domestic violence often does not occur because the person provoked the abuser; she said it happens because the person is an abuser, one who cannot control his or her anger or temperament.



Using the words ‘triggers’ or ‘provoke’ merely puts the blame on the victims rather than call out the abuser, she said.



“There’s a danger in the rhetoric that the abuser was provoked and therefore, can be excused for being abusive as a response. It shifts the attention from the abuser to the victim or survivor,” she said.



Mrs Vivour-Adeniji shared some red flags often displayed by an abuser disposed towards gender-based violence as often including expressing an undue sense of possessiveness, embarrassing or shaming, controlling all financial decisions, making their partner feel worthless or guilty for all the problems in the relationship. Sometimes an abuser will deliberately isolate their partners from their support system such as family. Feeling of being intimidated, being afraid of your partners’ reactions, pressure from a partner to have sex, or being accused of unfaithfulness are serious signs and red flags, she said.



When a partner kicks, shoves, restrains or throws their partner’s things outside, prevents the partner from taking a job or going to school, manipulates their partner into doing things that feel wrong or harmful, prohibit them from spending money on family members, she said they are clear signs of an abusive environment. It is the same when a partner threatens to withhold money or resources and treats domestic staff or family with cruelty, all these are some signs of an abuser.



Her team has an established protocol for responding to sexual and domestic violence. For domestic violence, first, a case is reported either via the phone or it is a direct walk-in. An officer takes down information and based on the information supplied, comes up with a case management scenario for the client. A referral is then made to the police station liaising with the family support unit there to ensure if the perpetrator is prosecuted or where necessary a restraining order application is made through the courts.



If the client wants the perpetrator to be called to order to retain the relationship, the team mediates and are provides counselling.



If the case involves sexual violence, medical attention is the first response after a report is made. The victim is immediately taken to the nearest primary health care centre or closest sexual assault referral centre.



After, referrals are made to the closest family support unit so that investigation can commence, and liaison is established with the health facilities to ensure that proper documentation is done and the survivor is able to have access to medical provisions.



Where necessary the team facilitates the arrest or investigation process to ensure that the case is charged to court or the suspect is remanded for a case of defilement or sexual assault. It then liaises with the directorate of public prosecution in the ministry of justice to follow up on the process and where necessary, appear in court with the client.



If the victim or survivor needs other reliefs, like empowerment, relocation, or perhaps education of a child is affected, or child may need to be moved to another school, the DSVRT assists.



Other reliefs may include the use of restraining order to restrain the abuser from perpetuating any other forms of violence.



The role of law enforcement is crucial, especially the police, is crucial, says Ms Vivour-Adeniji.



“Over the years, we’ve been partnering with the police force Lagos State Police Command to assist in the upgrading of Family Support Units (FSUs) to add 10 in the state. We currently have 12 FSUs in Lagos State. In these efforts, we have designated police officers that have been trained to provide this service to treat victims and survivors with empathy and professionalism that each case deserves. We work with the FSUs so that once cases are referred, the whole referral pathway, the whole protocol will be adhered to at the FSUs level.”



This story was supported by the <a href="http://www.pulitzercenter.org/">Pulitzer Center</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Code4Africa">Code for Africa</a>’s <a href="https://medium.com/wanadata-africa">WanaData</a> women data science initiative.

Outbreak
Covid-19

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