Costs and consequences of COVID-19 in Nigeria (Blueprint)

Blueprint (Nigeria) published an article stating that the Covid-19 pandemic is certainly a global challenge that negatively affects productivity and retards economic growth. This is in addition to the growing fatality, which the world counts every day. In Nigeria, the situation is worst. Our system is so defective and allows some people to take advantage of every national calamity for aggrandizement and personal enrichment.  What of the cost being incurred by the private sectors and individuals? The result estimated the consequences of the lockdown on Nigeria’s GDP. The GDP was reduced by 34.1 percent amounting to USD 16 billion (N5.7 trillion), with two-thirds of the losses coming from the services sector. The agriculture sector, which serves as the primary means of livelihood for most Nigerians, suffered a 13.1 percent loss in output worth USD 1.2 billion (N432 billion).  The loss of jobs in the private sector was unprecedented, resulting in millions of people placed under the extreme poverty line.