The advent of the COVID-19 index case in Nigeria on 27th February, 2020, marked the beginning of new order for Nigeria and Nigerians.
In this special report, Ekwi Ajide of our Abuja bureau takes a look at resident’s response and the impact of the pandemic, on the economic and social activities in the capital city.
Before the report of the index case, Abuja was a beehive of activities with weddings, birthdays, naming ceremonies and a host of other social activities but today, reverse is the case as many of such weekly activities rarely happens.
Government had in response to the pandemic, imposed series of restrictions in observance to the COVID-19 safety protocols including wearing of face masks and social distancing.
A ride through the streets of Abuja met residents in adherence to the safety rules wearing their face masks but on their chins.
This Dr. Obiora Chira, a consultant family physician, says the fault lies with government as it has not done enough to ensure compliance.
He said government should invest heavily on testing and prevention so that even the poor can be tested just as he cautioned citizens to be wary of their actions and know that wearing face mask correctly is as important as wearing their clothes.
For Mr. Joshua Nwasike, a food seller, the pandemic and eventual lockdown led to low turnout of customers and increase in prices of goods in the market.
He implored government to come up with a special fund for petty traders to cushion the effect of COVID-19.
On his part, a system integrator, Tunde Adetayo, said the pandemic set a lot of businesses back and stopped new ones from emerging.
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