Entrepreneurs Dread Second Lockdown as Nigeria’s COVID-19 Cases Hit Highest Single-day Record

The second wave of coronavirus in Nigeria is getting worrisome as the country recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 cases on Thursday, January 21, a development business owners in the country believe may encourage another lockdown.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed that 1,964 fresh infections were recorded across 23 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

With Nigeria’s economy still on life support, business owners are wary that a second lockdown may be the nail on the coffin on their investment but sources say authorities are looking at all options to curtail the spread of the virus.

Already in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, night clubs owners have been asked to suspend their business operations temporarily and other recreational and religious centres mandated to open at half capacity, with strict adherence to safety protocols.

“I doubt if my business would survive another lockdown. I’ve barely recovered from the first one. I’ve not even started paying back the loan I took to restart my business when the first lockdown was lifted”, Kenny Ajibade, a beauty entrepreneur, told Business Elites Africa.

Last week, Nigeria recorded 1,867 new cases in one day across 23 states and the FCT. The latest figure released yesterday makes it the 18th consecutive day that Nigeria would record over 1000 new cases.

The new positive samples statistics released by the NDDC yesterday show that Lagos is in the lead with 824 fresh cases, FCT with 246 infections and Plateau with 166 positive samples.

Despite the unpleasant and horrid stories of COVID-19 survivors shared of social media, some Nigerians still believe that the virus is a hoax while others are borderline reckless with practicing safety protocols thereby putting millions of careful citizens at risk.

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“Nigerians are reckless and gullible. Celebrities who have survived COVID-19 even shared their horrible experience just to make people believe that the disease is real, yet some of them still hold on to idiotic conspiracy theories their pastors are feeding them”, said Ben Igwe, a real estate business owner.

He continued: “I was scared when I watched comedian Alibaba‘s experience on TV. I don’t know how a person would still think the disease isn’t real. My fear is that with the number going up now, it might force the government to consider a second lockdown. I don’t even want to give it a thought because it would be devastating for my business and many other businesses”.

The NDDC also confirmed that seven COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Thursday, bringing the total fatality number to 1,485. However, 1,310 new persons have reportedly made full recoveries and have been discharged.

The discharged patients, according to the NCDC, included, “798 community recoveries in Lagos State and 191 community recoveries in Ondo state managed in line with guidelines”.

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Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the disbursement of N6.45 billion to set up gas plants in 38 locations nationwide to help COVID-19 patients who need oxygen. Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, confirmed the presidential approval on Thursday.

The move followed the statement made days earlier by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos, that the demand for oxygen at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba area of the state has risen from 70 to 350 cylinders per day.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was devastating on the Nigerian economy, as with the global economy. With global oil prices slumping to all-time low, Nigeria – a mono-economy dependent on oil – suffered a hard hit.

The decline in oil prices forced the Nigerian Government to scale down its 2020 budget by 45%, Capital expenditure was cut down by 20%, and recurrent expenditure by 25%.

Before the budget national budget was slashed, the crude oil benchmark was $57 per barrel but was revised to $30 per barrel following the crash in global prices. As of May 1, 2020, bonny light crude was offered to be sold for $10 per barrel and no buyer.

Another sector badly hit included, aviation, with many airlines having to shutdown flights as a result of the national lockdown that lasted for about five months. This led to massive laid off pilots and engineers working at different airlines.