Assessment of the Impact of the Covid-19 Induced Lockdown on Household Capabilities in Minna

Abstract

The world is today challenged by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The virus which causes respiratory illnesses spreads in humans through small droplets from an infected person’s mouth and nose. As a way of containing its spread, some countries, Nigeria inclusive, activated/imposed the lockdown order (restrictive mass quarantine). This order however shut down among others, the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of their economies. Consequently, the capabilities of households were affected due to disruptions in their income-generating capacities and food supply chain. This study, therefore, assessed the nexus between households’ pre-lockdown income poverty and their capability-tolerance threshold during the lockdown in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. In order to achieve this, the data collected were analysed using both the descriptive and linear regression techniques in Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) environments. The outcomes of these were presented in simple graphics analysis (charts) and tables. The study revealed that the pre-lockdown household income poverty incidence of Minna, using the UN’s poverty line of $1.90/day/capita was 92.5%, while that of the mean and median incomes were 57.1% and 76.2% respectively. The study similar indicated that the relationship between the pre-lockdown household income poverty and the capabilitytolerance

threshold of the lockdown period was statistically significant, with the former explaining 43.4% of the variation in the latter. The study thus recommended that deliberate programmes that support the growth and development of small and medium-scale enterprises should be put in place so as to expand households’ income generating capacities and other livelihood capabilities. It was also recommended that households should be encouraged to entrench the saving culture and asset ownership (which serves as shock absorbers in times of crises).