Immediate policy action is needed to curb the long-run impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the lives and livelihoods of Nigerian households, the World Bank has said in a new report.
It stated that the pandemic has hit countries with a health and economic shock whose effects would be felt far into the future, and in countries like Nigeria, the pandemic has continued to affect health outcomes, human-capital accumulation, household poverty and coping strategies, as well as labour-market dynamics.
The report, “COVID-19 in Nigeria: Frontline Data and Pathways for Policy,” shows both the extent of such impacts on Nigerians and promising policy options that could accelerate the nation’s recovery.
It also draws on innovative sources of high-frequency data, namely, the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS), to inform the choices that Nigerian leaders now face.
“The COVID-19 crisis has provided a wake-up call to address the long-standing structural challenges that could constrain the government’s ambition to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty,” said Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria.
“There is no time like the present for the country to prepare for future climate and conflict shocks and seize the promise of its young population to lay strong foundations for inclusive growth.”
According to the World Bank, the NLPS represents a successful collaboration between the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Data Production and Methods team at the global financial institution.
It was launched in April 2020 – almost immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic began – and has since regularly collected information on key social and economic outcomes, up to 12 times, from households across the country.
The report, the World Bank explains, shows that the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for human capital, livelihoods, and welfare are proving to be severe.
It stressed that while many schools have reopened across Nigeria, learning that was lost during the COVID-19 crisis needed to be recouped and some children have not returned to school.