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Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposed weaknesses in the health systems of countries such as Nigeria, which affected the effectiveness of the health system response to the pandemic. This paper provides new knowledge on the level of the availability, effectiveness and equity of resources in response to COVID-19 in Nigeria. This is valuable information for improving the delivery of countermeasures against future pandemics. Methods The study was conducted at the federal level and in two states in Nigeria. The states were Lagos in the southwest and Enugu in the southeast. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 34 key informants. NVivo version 12 software was used for coding and thematic analysis. Results There were inadequate, inequitable and suboptimal resources (human, financial, equipment and materials) for the response. In some of the countermeasures, only people that were employed in the formal sector benefitted from the distribution of welfare materials and financial packages; the informal sector, which constitutes the majority of the poor population in Nigeria, was excluded. Conclusions Inequity and suboptimal availability of resources to control COVID-19 led to reduced effectiveness of the health system response to the disease in Nigeria. Such negative factors must be mitigated in future responses to pandemics in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how neoliberalism affected the management of Covid-19 in Nigeria. As a result of its emphasis on privatisation and austerity, neoliberalism discouraged social investment programmes and provisioning. The privatisation of Nigeria's health sector severely stifled health financing, which led to the collapse of public health institutions and the proliferation of private and informal health delivery systems. It limited universal access to quality healthcare, worsened the health conditions of poor Nigerians and rendered the health sector incapable of managing emergency health situations, such as Covid-19. The absence of well-coordinated social investment programmes to cushion the effects of lockdown widened social inequality and misery, making it impossible for citizens in the informal economy to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines. The state responded with repression to enforce the rules. This study recommends overhauling the Nigerian state and its political economy as a condition for reducing citizen's vulnerability to a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel COVID -19 pandemic is a global challenge, yet the effects of the virus are different in every sector of the economy. Economic activities in the informal sector (IFS) of developing countries are highly dynamic but contribute substantially to the general growth of the economy and personal or household income of women. About 90% of women in the IFS of the developing countries are some of the most vulnerable to COVID - 19 pandemic. This is because they were forced to choose exposing themselves to the virus and putting food on the table through their daily toils. Due to limited access to essential social services, many of these women engage in small-scale trades in an unhygienic environment. This study examined the extent political economy of COVID-19 has affected women in the IFS the predictors of the level of effect and the possibility of locational difference of the effect. This research utilized Marxian political economy (dialectical materialism) built on a well-structured questionnaire enumeration of women from 357 households in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The choice of Nsukka Local Government Area is hinged on the availability of the urban, semi urban and rural communities. The lockdown of the economy was used to capture the political economy of COVID-19. The real limit mean, binary logistic regression and One-Way ANOVA were used to address the objectives of the study. The analyses result showed that the political and economic dynamics of Covid-19 negatively affected these women to a high extent. The variables that determine the level of effect of political economy of Covid-19 on these women were their weekly income and the product they sold. However, the level of effect of the interplay of politics and economy of Covid-19 on women in the informal sector was not significantly different across the urban, semi-urban and rural locations. Based on the results, the study recommend amongst others for the re-jigging of the social provisioning nets by the government to avert the effects of unexpected disruption of economic activities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With their inherent economic and infrastructure challenges, developing countries must assess commuters' travel behaviour and establish whether consumers' desire for sustainable transportation is feasible or merely wishful thinking. Using a qualitative research design, these issues were explored based on semi-structured interviews conducted with 72 participants across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Findings suggest that the desires and dreams of the commuters are great, and they want to reduce their journeys, work from home, and do online shopping. However, when they consider the inherent challenges, they can only hope for a better future. COVID-19 has impacted the ownership or use of motorised and non-motorised transport, but this is also influenced by affordability, convenience, and awareness. Likewise, there are long-term effects on home and work location choices, but this is further influenced by the large informal economy of the country, job accessibility and the infrastructural developments across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]