Nigeria In The Face Of Coronavirus-Induced Global Economic Meltdown

PETER CLAVER OPARAH

And so, Coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19 stole in on the world in December 2019. There was no prior notice that foretold its entry. The world was unprepared for that outbreak and thus far, it has caught the entire world freezing in fright as it spreads like wild fire through all the continents of the world. Perhaps, the world didn’t envisage that COVID-19 will shell out beyond China and inflict even more deadly consequences on other nations in so short a time as it is doing.

From Wuhan district in China, where it first made its entry, the pestilence has touched every part of the world and is ravaging mankind like an untamed inferno. The shocked and awe-struck world is still bereft of any curative panacea or even vaccine to tame this deadly monster. At best, frightened mankind has become a recluse; fleeing fiercely from the virus while praying and hoping that soon and very soon, a cure or at best, a vaccine could be developed to stop the ravaging scourge. Man ran behind closed doors in an attempt to evade this threatening monster and in the process, the world is veering to a standstill.

We have been told that Coronavirus is a viral infection; just like common flu but its attack on the respiratory system makes it far more deadly than flu or such other feared variants like Sars and in the absence of any curative measure, mankind try to stay safe by avoiding contact with any infected person or with each other. But then, there is no stopping this pestilence as the more man flees, the more it chases him and threatens him with its deadly consequences.

While the mortality rate from coronavirus soars, a frightened mankind has literally been forced to flee deeper and deeper into his crevices. Running as far away from contact still remains the fittest way to avoid the spread but the more man runs; the more the scourge comes chasing him. Isolation and quarantine have been prescribed as the safest measures to halt its spread but it still extends its deadly fang as far as it could.

The dread that comes with Coronavirus is as widespread with its soaring mortality rate as it is with the devastating economic doom it is unleashing on the entire world. No nation, no matter how solid, is spared the debilitating economic disaster the virus is inflicting on the entire world. Perhaps the grittier effects of the virus are the tremor it is unleashing on the world economy which, three months after the advent of Coronavirus, is tottering helplessly on the brinks of ruination. Simply put, the world is in dire economic recession even as no cure is in sight for this ravaging inferno.

Today, nations are frantically shutting down. Countries and peoples are going insular. Trade and commerce have practically plunged. Global movement is fast screeching to a halt, schools have been shut worldwide. Churches and mosques and sundry places of work have been shut down. Stores, shops, restaurants, pubs, public places have been put under lock and key across many nations of the earth. Public gatherings have been outlawed. Public transportation has been deserted. People have been chased indoors. People to people contacts have been outlawed. Industries have been shut down and where they haven’t been shut, are threatened with imminent shut down. Air transportation has practically halted as nations upon nations issue flight restrictions that target very many other nations of the world. Borders have been clanged shut and movements from one country to the other have been closed. More and more business enterprises have collapsed and many more are about to collapse. Stock markets all over the world have tumbled badly. Investments have been halted. Manufacturing index is in an all-time low and as mankind desperately flee from Coronavirus, a global economic meltdown is staring us in the face.. These are far bigger consequences and more far-reaching negative effects of Coronavirus than its growing mortality rate.

Coming to Nigeria, although Coronavirus, which has risen to a pandemic level, has yet to have serious presence in Nigeria and although the Nigerian government has done excellently well to contain the spread of the few cases that were reported here, there is the fear that even if the country manages to stay afloat in terms of spread of the pandemic, the after-effects of the economic disaster the ennui is dealing on the world will be too devastating for the country. Right now, oil, which remains the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, has crashed to an all-time low of below $30 per barrel. With the pestilence spreading across the globe, there is little doubt that oil will still crash to such a level that cannot even finance its production. To the credit of the present Buhari government, the country has done well to steer the economy from the asphyxiating clutch of oil, but even with that, the commodity still remains the single biggest financier of our budget so further crash in the price of oil will sure have very dire consequences on the Nigerian economy.

The dreaded picture above may not be far from what other nations face, even when they are not dependent on oil for every sector of the global economy is direly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic but with the fragile nature of the Nigerian economy, the continuing spread of Coronavirus will inflict serious damage to our local economy. At present, our national budget which rests so much on certain anticipated price of oil, is suffering serious strictures as oil price continues to crash.

So, what can we, as a country, do in the face of the enveloping global economic doom that is threatening with the fast spread of the virus? Nigerians must re-invest energy and resources into agricultural production and local manufacturing. Good enough, the present government had made laudable investment in these sectors and has scored very great results in steering Nigeria towards an inward-looking economy, more than any other government in the history of this country. Laudable also that in deference to the culture of neglect which previous governments treated investments in capital projects, this government has done so well in financing capital projects that stand to prop Nigerian economy in the face of an impending recession. What is needed is a greater citizens’ buy-in to this focus of the regime and employing the opportunity of the global economic meltdown that is present with us, to invest hugely on agriculture and local manufacturing. It is appreciable that even before the Coronavirus pandemic came, the Nigerian government had achieved reasonable level of self-sufficiency in food production. Ponder what would have happened if today Nigeria still depends entirely in imported food items from the countries ravaged by the virus, as was the case before the coming of the present government. 

Also, the present government has made impressive headways into supporting local production of many household needs of Nigerians. In the face of the global shut down the world is facing today, Nigerians have no options than looking inwards and redoubling efforts to spur local manufacturing of goods and services that most Nigerians need. With Europe, Asia and America being the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic and with many countries shutting their doors, Nigerians have no option than to stay home and solve their local needs. This necessity can only reinforce the insistence of the government that we develop self-sustainable means to deal with our problems. Let the fast-spreading pandemic ignite in more Nigerians the desire to locally deal with many of our problems rather than thinking solutions to our problems rest with people from other countries.

• Peter Claver Oparah writes from Ikeja, Lagos.

E-mail: peterclaver2000@yahoo.com