While a lot of Nigerians have described the partial lockdown of the country by the Federal Government as appropriate, close to three-quarters of people in a survey worry about starving.
A poll released Wednesday by NOIPolls, a country-specific polling service, shows that out of the concerned 720 persons, 40 percent cited food as their main concern during the lockdown, 21 percent mentioned that they were worried that people will die of hunger and 13 percent were concerned about the economic hardship during the lockdown.
More than half of the selected sample of 1,000 phone-owning Nigerians engaged by NOIPolls were bothered about lack of food for the poor.
“Government and well-meaning Nigerians should assist more citizens, especially the poor and those whose livelihood depends on daily income with more palliatives. This will not only ensure that Nigerians follow the stay at home directive but will help control the spread of the virus in the country,” NOIPolls said.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday announced a 14-day extension to a lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
In a televised address, Buhari said “it has become necessary to extend the current restriction of movement” that was set to expire later in the day.
The first phase of the lockdown in some parts of Lagos and Ogun States had led to a breakdown of law and order as hoodlums and robbers unleashed terror on residents.
Before the incident, many residents in both states and the FCT had expressed anger at the non-availability of palliatives as a large number of the country’s population dependent largely on daily earnings from their informal businesses have been restricted by the lockdown.
Results of the poll by the Abuja-based NOIPolls revealed that Nigerians rated the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) 6.97 out of a score of 10 on its provision of information or updates on COVID-19 and 6.36 on the tests its conduction.
Similarly, the Federal Government was rated slightly above average (5.47 out of 10) on how it plans to control the spread of the virus but was rated poorly for the lack of palliative measures to ensure that Nigerians follow its directives.
Further findings of the poll show there is a need for health advisories and other stakeholders to keep a pulse on the level of concern and panic among citizens as 87 percent of Nigerians disclosed that they are concerned they might contract the virus.
This was a 24 percent increase compared with figures obtained in March 2020. “It is encouraging to know that a substantial proportion of Nigerians believe that lockdown will help in controlling the spread of the disease. However, it is critical to address the concerns citizens have about the lockdown,” NOIPolls said.
The result of the poll also revealed that 77 percent of Nigerians stated that the decision of the Federal Government is appropriate because they believe it is the best way to control the spread of the virus in the country.
However, 18 percent consider the lockdown to be too extreme. While 65 percent of the respondents opined that the lockdown should be extended to other states.
According to NOIPolls the increasing rate of coronavirus cases in Nigeria was the reason why it decided to conduct the poll which commenced in the week of April 1st, 2020.
The survey involved telephone interviews of a proportionate nationwide sample representing the six geo-political regions and 36 states and the FCT of the country.
