Employment as well as economic activities in Nigeria remains precarious despite eased lockdown, interstate movement allowance and gradual reactivation of the economy from the impacts of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated in its COVID-19 Impact Monitoring Survey Report for July 2020, although, there has some levels of rebound, the market remains unstable.
In terms of employment, it said the share of respondents working has recovered and there is some evidence of people moving in and out of work.
“This suggests that the new jobs gained may be precarious, and thus there is likely still instability in the job market,” the agency revealed.
The report added that 81 per cent of respondents reported that they were working, close to the pre-pandemic level of 85 per cent.
Recovery and reactivation of economic activities in urban areas is lagging, with the share of urban respondents working at 11 percentage points lower than prior to the outbreak.
In addition, the COVID-19 crisis appears to have limited households’ access to farming inputs, the NBS gathered.
“Inorganic fertilizer and pesticide/herbicides seem to be the most impacted: 72 per cent of farming households that needed inorganic fertilizer and 47 per cent of farming households that needed pesticide/herbicides were unable to access them,” it said.
Nigerians have also lamented that paying rent is becoming challenging as the data revealed that more than half of renting households report being worried that they will be unable to make their next rent payment.
“The share of households receiving remittances, safety nets and/or other forms of assistance from institutions seems to have declined since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Very few households receive social assistance and, in particular, the share of households receiving food assistance decreased from 12 percent in April/May to 6 per cent in July,” NBS said.
The latest statistics reveals that most Nigerians continue to adopt safe practices to minimize the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.
In the month, “nearly 83 per cent of respondents reported washing their hands after being in public all or most of the time, while 74 per cent reported wearing a mask all or most of the time.”
All said, the report noted regrettably that the COVID-19 crisis has limited access to child immunization services for some households.
“About one in five households with children 0-5 years old who needed or were due for immunizations were not able to get their children vaccinated,” NBS stated.
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