Containing the COVID 19 Pandemic in Nigeria A Reflection on Government Actions and Citizens Reactions

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)
Volume 4 Issue 6, September-October 2020 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470
@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD35701 | Volume – 4 | Issue – 6 | September-October 2020 Page 1453
Containing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria:
A Reflection on Government Actions and Citizens Reactions
Vincent Chukwukadibia Onwughalu Ph.D
Lecturer, Department of Public Administration, Federal Polytechnic, Oko Anambra State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the lockdown of the global
economy in the early part of the year 2020. In line with the measures
recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), countries also
introduced furthermechanismsbasedontheirrespective uniqueenvironment
to contain the virus. This paper reflected on the citizens’ reactions to
government measures in containing the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Specifically, it reviewedthegovernment’sactionstowardscontainingthevirus
and how they influenced the citizens’ response. The study was qualitativeand
focused between March and September 2020. Relying on secondary data that
were analyzed through content analysis, we triangulated the Persuasive
Communication Theory and Resistance Theory to interrogate the
government's actions and the citizens’ reactions. We argued that the
government's approach towards containing the virus contributed to (i) the
doubt on the existence of the virus in the country held by some of the citizens,
(ii) the lack of strict observation of precautionary measures and safety
regulations, (iii) the seeming non-co-operation between the government and
the citizens in containing the virus. The implications of this relationship pose
challenges for future epidemics, pandemics, and development in the country
and could serve as a premise for further research.
KEYWORDS: COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria, Government, Containing, Citizens,
Safety, Precautionary measures and regulations, development
How to cite this paper: Vincent
Chukwukadibia Onwughalu "Containing
the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria: A
Reflection on Government Actions and
Citizens Reactions"
Published in
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of Trend in Scientific
Research and
Development(ijtsrd),
ISSN: 2456-6470,
Volume-4 | Issue-6,
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INTRODUCTION
The emergence of disease elicited appropriate preventive
and curative measures. While the origin of disease appears
to be illusory (Mackenbach, 2006),itseemstobecertain that
leprosy is the oldest disease in the world (Sarno&Pessolani,
2001; Norman, 2018). Diseases spread as a result of
population growth, increased human movements, and
interactions which are the function of civilization and
urbanization (Dobson & Carper, 1996; LePan 2020).
It is the scale of a disease or the spread that leads to its
categorization as either an epidemic or a pandemic(Morens,
Folkers & Fauci, 2009). According to ZADIG (2012: 4-50)
disease is regarded as an epidemic when "there are more
cases of a particular disease than expected in a givenarea, or
among a specific group of people,overa particularperiod."It
is considered a pandemic “when a new infectious agent, or a
reemerging one, spreads across multiple continents,or even
worldwide.” The latter is distinguished from the former
based on “geographical spread, disease movement,
explosiveness, and high attack rates, minimal population
immunity, novelty, infectiousness, contagiousness, and
severity” (Morens et al, 2009). The world has experienced
many pandemics. Huremović (2019) chronicled the history
of pandemics from the religious perspective through
recorded history to the 21st century, identifyingtheperiods,
places of origin, fatalities, and their impact. LePan (2020)
corroborates Huremović’s(2019)account,fillstheperceived
gaps, and extended it to the COVID-19, which the World
Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic on March
11, 2020 (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020).
Sequel to the above, countries rolled out measures to deal
with the pandemic. In Nigeria, the Presidential Task Force
(PTF) on COVID-19 was set up by the President on March 7,
2020, the six COVID-19 alert phases framework in the
Response Plan was introduced on May 15, 2020, and the
COVID-19 Regulations 2020 came into effect on March 30th,
2020 respectively (Presidency, 2020a; 2020b). Accordingto
the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (2020:1) the duty
of the PTF is “to coordinate and oversee multi-sectoral inter-
governmental efforts to contain the spread and mitigate the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria”. Strategic
amongst its objectives is to “keep the public abreast of
strategic progress with Nigeria’s response, and emerging
developments regarding preparedness and response.” In a
similar vein, amongst its functional areas the “Risk
Communication & Community Engagement”, “Infection,
Prevention & Control” are very instructive. COVID-19
Regulations 2020 emphasized seven (7) areas:
“Restriction/CessationofmovementinLagos,FCT,andOgun
State, Seaports in Lagos to be operational, Suspension of
passenger aircraft, both commercial and private, Need for
personal sacrifice, Relief materials, Support of the private
sector and individuals, and Government committed [sic] to
the fight against the virus” (Presidency, 2020b).
IJTSRD35701

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Our aim in this paper is to show that how the citizens
responded to the containment of the virus within the period
under review was a function of the approach adopted by the
government. In doing so, the paper aside the introduction
was organized in six sections: (i)a briefliteraturereview, (ii)
theoretical framework, (iii) governments actions in
containing the pandemic and thecitizens’reactions,(iv)how
government actions impacted the citizens’ reactions, (v)
implications for a future epidemic, pandemic, and
development in the country, (vi) Conclusion.
Brief Literature Review
Huremović (2019) and LePan(2020)accountsonthehistory
of pandemics share similarities as well as differences.
Between 340 BC and 2019, Huremović identified thirteen
pandemics with the Athenian Plague as the first and Disease
X as the last. LePan identified twenty pandemics between
165 AD and March 12, 2020. His account started with the
Antonine Plague and ended with the COVID-19, thereby,
filling the perceived gaps in theformer’saccount.Huremović
(2019) noted that it was the practice of protective isolation
in ancient times through mandatory isolation in the
medieval age that metamorphosed toquarantine, whichwas
first observed at the City-state ofDubrovnik,Ragusa,in1377
during the Black Death pandemic. Pike et al (2010)
recognized a time lag between the outbreak of a disease and
the development of an approved vaccine, which is affirmed
by the case of COVID-19. As a result, they suggested
modification of behaviour, health education and public
enlightenment, communication strategies as preventiveand
control measures pending the availability of an approved
vaccine.
Wolfe et al (2007) cited in Pike et al (2010) analyzed the
emergence of a disease-causing agent and categorized the
mode and levels of disease transmission or spread, which
they classified into five stages. The World Health
Organization’s (2011) “Phase of Pandemic Alert for
Pandemic (H1N1)” revised in 2009 appeared to have been
structured after these stages. Thus, countries adapted this
pattern in the design of their respective response,
management, or governance framework in containing the
COVID-19 pandemic. For instance,whileNigeria evolveda 6-
phase Response Plan, South Africa wasgovernedbya 5-level
containment framework (Presidency, 2020a; South African
Government, 2020).
The outbreak of COVID-19 and its global impact has
popularized terms, preventive and control measures
associated with containing the spread of a disease on an
intercontinental scale. It led to a better understanding ofthe
difference between epidemic and pandemic, social and
physical distancing, as well asthemeaningof quarantineand
its right pronunciation. Others are lockdown or “hard
lockdown” (Ranchhod & Daniels, 2020:3) and working
remotely, which capture the levels of implementation of
stay-at-home and the dominant mode of work or businesses
within the period respectively. Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE), palliative and stimulus packages are also
inclusive and we regard them to be amongst the most
popular terms associated with the containmentofCOVID-19
because they affected everyone in a way or the other. There
was no exoneration in the useofPPE,palliative,andstimulus
packages that were targeted at supporting the poor and
salvaging business. Their procurement and distribution
processes elicited corrupt practices in many countries like
Nigeria and South Africa at an exponential magnitude. This
led to the emergence of an emergency new class –
Covidpreneurs (Businesstech, 2020; JGL Forensic Services,
2020) – those who corruptly enrich themselves from the
disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Framework of Analysis
The Persuasive Communication Theory explains how to
overcome or avoid resistance to change or the desired
behaviour in society through appeal or persuasion.
Attributed primarily to Carl Hovland and his group, the
theory originated in the 1950s andwaspopularized byother
scholars, notably, Petty and Cacioppo (1981, 1986) through
their Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). According to
Ajzen (1992:5) “the Persuasive Communication theory
appeals to reason, attempting to bring about change and
compliance by convincing the individual of the validity or
legitimacy of the advocated position”. In other words,
message(s)arecreatedandcommunicatedgivena prevailing
“situation in order to promote a psychological state that
leads people voluntarily to engage in the desired behavior”
(Ajzen, 1992:5). At the centre of persuasive communication
are the [i] context and [ii] message(s), therefore, "beliefs,
attitudes, intentions, and behaviors are targets of a
persuasive communication" (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975, 1981
cited in Ajzen (1992:21). This underscores the fact that
individual beliefs impact a person’s attitude and behaviour,
thereby, bringing about certain action(s).Thus,Fishbeinand
Ajzen, (1975, 1981) cited in Ajzen (1992:18) explain the
yielding and impact effects of persuasive communication
(likened to the spill-over effects); they arguethata change in
a particular belief, attitude, behaviour can lead to changesin
other beliefs, attitudes, and attendant behaviours. They
further supported this position with the analyses of the
theory of Reasoned Action and the theory of Planned
Behaviour.
In application to our study, at the outbreak of COVID-19 a
little appears to be known about the novel virus. Much of
what was touted about it was in the realm of“trial anderror”
(Volkow, 2020; Nikhra, 2020). For instance, the disease was
referred to as coronavirus during its outbreak and was later
labelled COVID-19 by the WorldHealthOrganizationon11th
February 2020 (National Center for Immunization and
Respiratory Diseases, 2020). Furthermore,social distancing,
a term associated with precautionary and safety measures
against the spread of the virus, requiring a minimum
distance between or amongst persons, was later found to
mean a different thing and physical distancing was adopted
as the right term (Hodgetts & Stolte, 2014; Hart, 2020).
Again, Omori, Matsuyama, and Nakata (2020) have
disproved that age is not a predisposingfactortocontracting
SARS-CoV-2; rather, its symptoms, progression, and fatality
are age-dependent. Little wonder, Spaull et al (2020:1)
observe that “policies that are helpful and sensible today
may be harmful and illogical tomorrow. Every month seems
to yield new information and consequences that were
unforeseen even six weeks before”.
The outbreak of COVID-19 was trailed by a lot of conspiracy
theories that were bolstered by the internetpenetrationand
proliferation of electronic devices, which informed people's
beliefs about the virus and their attendant attitudes and
behaviours towards precautionary and safety measures.

Based on the scenario, we argue that an ideal approach to
containing the pandemic in the country, given when the
outbreak was reported on the8thDecember2019inWuhan,
China, and when the index case was recorded in Nigeria on
27th February 2020 (Amzat et al, 2020), would have been
through persuasive communication. In this vein, we argue
further that educating and enlightening the citizens on the
true situation concerning the state of knowledge and
available information about COVID-19, requesting them to
take ownership of their safety, and informing them
subsequently asnewknowledgeonthevirusemerges,would
have encouraged them to adhere to the recommended
precautionary and safety measures. As we noted in the
introductory section above, the government recognized the
need for effective communication. As a result, it was
enshrined in the objectives and functional areas of the PTF,
thus, mainstreaming it in the five out of the six COVID-19
alert phases framework in the country’s Response Plan.
Thus, Nelson (2020:1) observes that:
“If there's one universal with COVID-19, it's thatatthis
point in the pandemic, preventing and ultimately
controlling local outbreaks relies largely on human
behaviors. We have no effective vaccines, so the
actions or inactions peopleandtheircommunitiestake
to modify behavior and mitigate spread are our only
means of control”.
It was in the wake of these realities, that the government
jettisoned persuasivecommunicationinpreferenceforother
measures that are perceived and seen to serve selfish
interests. Thus, they failed to elicit the expected behaviours
from the citizens, most of whom rather resisted them.
We further located our explanationforthecitizen’sreactions
against the government's actions within the framework of
the Resistance Theory.Theemergenceofthetheoryascribed
to James C. Scott was popularized by Michel de Certeau, Karl
Polanyi, Antonio Gramsci, Jocelyn A. Hollander andRachel L.
Einwohner, et al. However, we adopted Vinthagen and
Johansson’s (2013,2016)“EverydayResistance”variant,and
tailored its postulations to the peculiarity of our discourse,
i.e. the type of resistance, agents, actors or resisters, and
target involved, the context and time. The theory explains
how people act or behave to change the condition they
dislike. Its crux, irrespective of the nuances in variants, is
“that resistance is an oppositional act” (Vinthagen &
Johansson, 2013:1). According to Johansson and Vinthagen
(2016:5) by everyday resistance, "we are interested in
individual as well as collectiveactionsthatarenotorganized,
formal or necessarily public or intentionallypolitical,andwe
link them to configurations of power in everyday life." It
captures a dominant-subordinate scenario between the
agent(s) and target(s) (Hollander & Einwohner, 2004),
Johansson and Vinthagen (2016:6) included observer(s),
involving who is resisting "in relation to whom, where and
when, and how or forms, actors, sites and strategies"
(Johansson & Vinthagen, 2016:2&3)". Despite introducing a
third factor - observer, Johansson and Vinthagen (2016:8)
recognized that resistance usually involves the “dominant
and subalterns,” then we align with Hollander and
Einwohner (2004: 536) “that resistance is directed from an
oppressed group towards domination from above.”
Resistance is the “weapon or tacticoftheweak”(Scott,1990;
de Certeau, 1984 cited in Vinthagen & Johansson, 2013) to
resist domination, which could either be “coping, survival-
technique,accommodationoravoidance/escape”(Vinthagen
& Johansson, 2013:23-24).Theresisterswhetherindividuals
or groups are found in various places and positionswielding
different identities, what relates or binds them together is
their common or similar disposition to the target(s)
concerning an issue (Johansson & Vinthagen, 2016:7).
Nigeria is an informal sector driven economy,theimposition
of lockdown and stay-at-home by the government that
introduced stimulus packages and palliatives to contain
COVID-19 amidst paucity of data, were perceived as
threatening the citizens’ lives, especially, those who source
of livelihood depends on daily income. There was
spontaneous resistance primarily against the lockdown and
stay-at-home across the country (Nelson, 2020, Amzat et al,
2020), regarded as coping and survival measures, as the
citizens preferred to be killed by the virus, instead of hunger
(Briggs & Numbere, 2020). The refusal by some citizens to
use the face masks, adhere to physical distancing, and other
precautionary and safety measures were secondary, which
were a function of the government actions as noted above
and analyzed in the next sections.
Governments Actions towards ContainingthePandemic
and the Citizens’ Reactions
The centrality of the government's role in the success or
failure of containing the COVID-19 is obvious (Adepoju,
2020). On the incidence of COVID-19, South Africa was
regarded as the country with the highest case in Africa and
was ranked the fifth globally (World Health Organization,
2020:2). In recognition of this scenario, as well as the health
status of its citizens and their lifestyle, the government
banned the sale of alcohol, tobacco and implemented a very
strict lockdown measure that was described as a 'hard’
lockdown (Casale & Posel, 2020:1). Furthermore, the
implementation of 33% cuts in the salaries of elected and
appointed government officials for a period (Isilow, 2020)
demonstrated commitment to containing the virus, which
elicited a minimum of R5 freewill donation at the outlets ofa
certain Retail Shop to the cause by ordinary citizens when
making payments for their purchases (Engelbrecht, 2020).
The actions of the Nigerian government towards containing
the pandemic did not reflect the peculiarity of the country,
and they accounted for the non-co-operation of its citizens.
We categorized the actions into two broad groups,which we
framed as (i) adapted measures, and (ii) introduced
domestic measures. The former were the socio-medical
precautionary, safety, control and remedial measures
recommended by the World Health Organization like
physical distancing, hand washing with running water and
soap, the use of alcohol-based sanitizer, the use of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE): Facemasks, gloves, overalls,
aprons, etc, stay-at-home, lockdown, isolation, contact
tracing, case management (Abowei, 2020; Nelson, 2020;
Dixit, Ogundeji & Onwujekwe, 2020). On the other hand, the
latter were (a) travel ban (Partial and total), (b) curfews
introduced to regulated movements, and (c) the economic
and fiscal measures (stimulus packages and palliatives) to
cushion the impacts of the pandemic. These are one year
moratorium for all Central Bank of Nigeria loans, reduction
of interest rates on all Central Bank of Nigeria loansfrom 9%
to 5% for a given period, provision of N50 billion credit
facility by the Central Bank of Nigeria to support to Micro,
Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), including

hospitality and aviation businesses, N100 billion
intervention fund for the health sector, granting of leave to
Deposit money Banks to extend duration of credits granted
customers for a period, N1 trillion intervention fund for the
manufacturing sector, N523.3m “Lockdown School Feeding
Programme”: Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States, N20, 000
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), and the reductionandhike
in petroleum pump price (Tijjani & Ma, 2020; Ayeni, 2020;
Banwo & Ighodalo, 2020; Onyekwena, & Ekeruche, 2020;
Sanni, 2020; Wahab, 2020; Obinna, Iniobong, Odoh & Kwen,
2020).
The citizens’ reactions were mixed (negative and positive).
On the negative sidewere:theperceptionthatCOVID-19 was
either non-existence, Africans are immune to the virus, a
hoax, conspiracy, elite’s disease - “rich man’s disease,” or
artificial creation for selfish gains; partial compliance with
precautionary and safety measures, resistance to lockdown,
stay-at-home, and inter-states travel bans, refusal to go for
testing – (Testing Centres/LaboratoriesasatAugust5,2020,
were 62 in 32 states including the FCT, the number of
samples tested as at Friday 21/8/2020 was 369, 904 out of
about 200 million Nigerians (Nigeria Health Watch, 2020;
https://covid19.ncdc.gov.ng/), andindustrial action(strike)
by some health workers. On the positive side were:
indigenous inventions of PPE, ventilators, antidotes to the
virus, donations to the federal and state governments by
some private establishments and individuals (Howe &
Shapiro, 2020; Campbell & McCaslin, 2020; Abowei, 2020;
Nwaubani, 2020; Donnelly & Hassan, 2020; Olapegba et al,
2020).
How Government Actions Influenced the Citizens’
Reactions
The citizens complied with preventive and safety measures
in the era of the Ebola outbreak, thus, the World Health
Organization (2014) acknowledged Nigeria’s response and
actions to containing Ebola as “world-class.” Why are the
citizens not complying with the preventive and safety
measures to containing COVID-19?
We argue that the followinggovernment’sactionsinfluenced
the citizens’ reactions:
Defective containment approach:Thesameapproachthat
the government employed from the onset wheninformation
about the virus was sketchy (Roli & Elizabeth, 2020; Amzat,
et al, 2020:3), was being used, even though new information
has emerged and are still emerging that warranted a change
in approach.
Public enlightenment and education on the virus were
not prioritized: Concerted efforts were not devoted to
massive and intensive public enlightenment and education
on the virus to facilitate the citizens taking ownership of
their safety. This led to misinformation, confusion, fear,
panic, and erroneous perceptions of the virus (Odubanjo,
2020).
Neglect to tap into indigenous inventions: Personal
Protective Equipment and ventilatorsweremanufactured in
places like Aba, Kaduna, etc, in the country (Olatunbosun,
2020), when these items were in short supply globally.
Despite the government's announcement of N1 trillion
intervention funds for the manufacturing sector, assistance
was hardly received to boost the production of these items
for local use, least for export. Furthermore, the government
did not show interest in either advancing the use or further
verification of the 21 listed antidotestothevirusqualifiedby
the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and
Control (NAFDAC) as “Safe to use” (Healthnews.ng, 2020).
Ironically, the Russian launcheda vaccinefortheviruswhich
did not observe the full process of clinical trials or
procedures for orthodoxmedicine(Walker,2020) backedby
its government.
Lack of Altruism on the part of government officials: At
the outbreak of the virus, the government did not show
genuine concern and commitment to containing the
pandemic. It failed to cut the contentious humongous
salaries and allowances of its elected andappointedofficials,
and channel them to the fight against the pandemic, as was
the case in South Africa. Instead,thepump priceofpetroleum
was manipulated to douse the citizens' resistance to the
government's action in the first instance. Later, it was hike
alongside the electricity tariff (Umoru, Young & Agbakwuru,
2020), causing inflation and compounding the hardship the
citizens faced by disruptions impacted by the pandemic.
Failure to sanction government officials accused of
COVID-19 related corrupt practices: The pandemic is
viewed by many citizens as an opportunity to embezzle
public resources. Some government officials and their
proxies became Covidpreneursanddivertedpublicresources
voted for containing the virusresourcesforpersonal gains.A
few select cases were: the monumental fraud in the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC) (Ogune,2020),and
the lockdown school feeding programme (Ailemen, 2020).
The commercial banks' implementation of stamp duty
deductions from customers’ accounts with retrospective
effect (Uzoho, 2020), shortly after they donated to the
federal governmenttowards containingthepandemic,which
the citizens perceived as a calculated ploy to recoup the
money donated and make a profit. The law enforcement
agents had a field day (Asimi, 2020) enforcing the lockdown
and stay-at-home regulations, and some international
travellers were scammed under the guise of the Polymerize
Chain Reaction (PCR) test (Ebi, 2020). Importantly, no
accused official was directed to stepasidependingoutcomes
of investigations as was the case in South Africa under
similar scenarios (Erasmus, 2020).
Secrecy: There was a lack of openness and transparency in
most of the government actions. Notably in this regard was
the invitation of the Chinese medical team (a country where
the virus originated) against the refusal by the Nigerian
Medical Association (NMA). The citizens were not
communicated on the purpose of the visit, procurement
process, and distributions of PPE, palliatives, and stimulus
packages (Anadolu Agency, 2020; actionaid, 2020).
Stigmatization: The Anambra and Benue States COVID-19
index cases were not handled professionally. The video
footage (https://youtu.be/SqYpCDo9HK0)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV2qq2ofW9g)from
the Benue’s index case and reactions from the Anambra’s
case (Eleweke, 2020; Adanikin, 2020) went viral in the new
media platforms and introduced a stigmatization twist into
the fight against the virus. Furthermore, their responses,
especially, the video footage from the Benue Stateindexcase

appear to lay credence to some of thecitizen’sperceptionsof
the politicization of the virus and its conspiracy theories.
Validating the conspiracy theories: The attempts at a
hasty and speedy passage of the Infectious Diseases Control
Bill 2020 by the House of Representatives and the National
Health Emergency Bill 2020 by the Senate (Anadolu Agency,
2020) in the absence of any approved vaccine for COVID-19,
the initial reluctance to conducting Polymerize Chain
Reaction (PCR) tests in Kogi and Cross River States (Offiong,
2020), the coincidence of National Assembly’s
announcement to probe the disbursement of COVID-19
palliatives and fire outbreak at theAccountantGeneral ofthe
Federation’s office (Progressive Governors Forum, 2020),
the industrial actions embarked by health medical doctors
on 15 June 2020 over shortage of PPE, absence of life
insurance, none payment of hazard allowances, salaries at
the peak of the pandemic despite the N100 billion
intervention fund for the health sector, etc, (Onyeji, 2020;
Adejumo, Adejumo & Okonofua, 2020) tend to validate the
conspiracy theories on the virus.
Flouting of precautionary and safety protocols by
government officials: Government officials that are
supposed to be exemplary in observing the COVID-19
protocols flouted them. A few select cases were at the burial
events of Abba Kyari, Buruji Kashamu (Akor, Oke & Moses,
2020), at the airports (Olawoyin,2020a;2020b),andtheEdo
and Ondo States gubernatorial elections campaigns and
rallies (Okereh, 2020).
Implications for future epidemic or pandemic
The government’s actions towards containing the COVId-19
pandemic pose serious implications for future epidemic or
pandemic in the country. They imply that the citizens may
view the outbreak of epidemic or pandemic in the future
with reservation, as a result, may not take it seriously,
thereby, jeopardizing their lives withobviousconsequences.
Furthermore, the acceptance and use of vaccines to control
epidemic or pandemic may elicit resistance, especially,given
the touting of the depopulation of Africa conspiracy theory
that was barely debunked in the country. The prevalence of
unmitigated corrupt practices related to containing the
COVID-19 pandemic suggests the government’s
endorsement of diverting public resources meant for
development for personal gains. Finally, these impact the
citizens’ lack of confidence and trust in governments’
actions, and may hardly elicit their co-operation which is
very necessary for development.
Conclusion
We reflected on the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic
in Nigeria between March and September 2020. We zeroed
in on the government’s actions, and the citizens’ reactions,
how they interacted as well as the outcomes. We provided
brief literature perspectives on the variables under study
and a framework that aided our analysis respectively.
Specific government’s actions towards containing the
COVID-19 and the citizens’ reactions were highlighted.
Furthermore, how the government’s actions impacted the
citizens’ reactions and the implications for future epidemic
or pandemic in the country were also discussed.
We noted that aside from adapting the COVID-19 protocols
as recommended by the World Health Organization,
countries injected other precautionary measures and safety
regulations in line with their peculiarities towards
containing the virus. First, we argued that knowledge and
information about the virus were sketchy and new
information is emerging. Second,wealsoarguedthatNigeria
is mainly an informal sector economy characterized by the
paucity of reliable data. We faulted the approach adoptedby
Nigeria's government towards containing the pandemic, as
we observed that it did not align with these realities.
We argued that given the prevailing circumstances that
trailed the virus and the nature of the Nigerianstate,a better
approach to the containment of the pandemic would have
been effective and efficient communication through public
enlightenment and education of the citizens, grounded in
transparency andopennessthatwouldhaveinfluencedthem
to take ownership of their safety. Relying on the
triangulation of persuasive communication persuasion
theory and resistance theory, we analyzed why the
government's actions failed to elicitthe expectedbehaviours
from the citizens, rather, they were met with resistance in
many places.
We concluded by pointing out that future epidemic or
pandemic in the country may not be taken seriously by the
citizens, this will influence the acceptance and use of
vaccines for the prevention and control with the attendant
consequences. The implications of these and unmitigated
COVID-19 related corrupt practices for the country's
development could serveasa premiseforfurther research.
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