AN MPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON NIGERIAN ECONOMY AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY: STUDY OF ABAKALIKI METROPOLIS, EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The infectious disease COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China and has spread to almost all the parts of the world causing hugedeath and losses of millions of jobs. In Nigeria, the first case of COVID-19 was identified in Nigeria on the 27th of February, 2020. This study examined the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy and employee productivity: study of Abakaliki Metropolis, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. To achieve the objectives of the study, two research questions were formulated to guide the study. Literatures related to the variables were reviewed and structural functionalism was employed as theoretical framework. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 120 respondents for the research from twelve organizations. In-depth Interview (IDI) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were used to elicit data from the respondents. Qualitative analysis was employed to assess the two research questions. Among the findings, the study revealed that the spread of infectious COVID-19 was entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic effects triggered an economic crisis which put at risks the Nigerian economy and employee productivity since large numbers of employees remained in their homes to avoid the disease. Based on these findings, the study concluded that government should find the right balance and sequencing of health,economic and social policy interventions to curtail the spread of the pandemic and increase employee productivity. Sequel to this, the study recommended amongst others that Nigeria government should establish strong commitments to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Global Health Security (GHS) to assist employees access the quality health services without suffering financial hardship. Again, Nigerian governments, particularly Ebonyi state government should adopt fiscal measures to provide support to workers by reducing tax,increase wage and income supplements as well as granting insurance to help employees overcome the storm of COVID-19 pandemic