CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
COVID-19, a novel coronavirus illness, is currently causing a global epidemic. The first case of an infectious respiratory disease was reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China [WHO 2020]. Cough, fever, exhaustion, and breathing difficulties are common COVID-19 symptoms, although sore throat, diarrhea, muscle pain, nasal congestion, and new loss of taste or smell are also possible (CDC 2020). As of May 12th, 2020, WHO (2020) reported 4,098,018 global confirmed cases and 283,271 confirmed deaths globally.
The COVID-19 pandemic (produced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus) caught the globe off guard in early 2020, when it expanded across countries. The Coronavirus is thought to have originated in China in December 2019, before spreading to Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and other countries.
In the event of an outbreak, lockdown is a government-imposed emergency reaction that orders individuals to stay indoors. In the case of COVID-19, the lockout procedures were designed to flatten the virus’s gradient. As part of the exercise, activity-based centers such as banks, hotels, stores, religious houses, and other places where a significant number of people could congregate were closed (NCDC, 2020; CDC, 2020; WHO, 2020).
As a result, human movement was restricted, making it impossible for individuals to analyze cash in banks. However, mobile banking services enabled financial withdrawals, transfers, cash backs, and bill payment through the use of smart phones and point of sale (POS) devices. POS devices, in particular, played an important influence.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The COVID-19 virus’s worldwide spread has put the world’s nations, especially Nigeria, into a health crisis. The use of lockdown measures was judged the most effective way to stop the virus from spreading. This required action, on the other hand, had a huge impact on many aspects of the country, most notably on human migration.
Human movement was restricted as a result of this, and people were unable to access monies in banks, conduct urgent transactions, pay local bills, and so on, which could have created a big difficulty in the country at the time. Mobile banking, on the other hand, enabled services that were able to address these issues.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main goal of this research is to see how Covid-19 shutdown affects POS availability in Nigeria. However, the following are the specific goals:
Examine how the Covid-19 lockout impacted the availability and operation of point-of-sale (POS) firms in Nigeria.
Determine whether Nigeria’s Covid-19 Stay at Home precautionary measure hindered the evaluation and disbursement of funds by POS operators.
Examine whether point-of-sale (POS) played a significant effect in decreasing the difficulty of obtaining funds for Nigerians during the Covid-19 Lockdown.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How has the Covid-19 lockout impacted the availability and operation of point-of-sale (POS) firms in Nigeria?
2. Has Nigeria’s implementation of the Covid-19 Stay at Home precautionary measure limited the assessment and delivery of funds by POS operators?
3. Did point-of-sale play a significant role in limiting Nigerians’ access to funds during the Covid-19 Lockdown?
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research will reveal the importance of POS and how it handled the difficulty of Fund unavailability during the Covid-19 lockdown. As a result, this research will be of interest to the banking industry, POS operators, students, academics, and teachers, among others.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Only a few POS businesses in Anambra State are included in the study on the influence of Covid-19 shutdown on POS availability in Nigeria. This research also looks into how the Covid-19 lockdown affected the availability and operation of POS businesses in Nigeria, as well as determining whether the Covid-19 Stay at Home precautionary measure implemented in Nigeria limited the assessment and disbursement of funds by POS operators in Nigeria, and determining whether POS played a significant role in limiting the challenge of fund availability for Nigerians during the Covid-19 Lockdown.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Challenges faced during the research included, but were not limited to, the following:
Inadequate funding: The investigation was hampered by a lack of funds, which prevented the researcher from visiting as many locations as possible.
Time: Another constraint is time, as this research had to be completed while also juggling other academic responsibilities, making it impossible to conduct this study in a large, representative sample.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Covid-19, also known as Coronavirus Disease 2019, is an illness caused by a novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly known as 2019-nCoV), which was first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, during an outbreak of respiratory illness cases.
Lockdown: A lockdown is a system that forces people or groups to stay in their current place owing to the risk of harming themselves or others if they are permitted to roam and communicate freely.
A point of sale (POS) is a location where a customer makes a payment for goods or services, as well as where sales taxes may be collected. A POS transaction can take place in person or online, and receipts can be printed or emailed.
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