IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN ON THE USE OF DELIVERY SERVICE IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The COVID-19 (caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus) pandemic took the world by storm in early 2020, spreading across countries. The Coronavirus appears to have begun spreading in China in December 2019, before spreading to Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Vietnam, Singapore, and other Western Pacific and South-East Asian countries, and then to Russia, Africa, and Latin America McLord (2020).
The first COVID-19 index case was discovered in a hospital in Wuhan, China, as unknown acute pneumonia. As a result, WHO declared the virus a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, after previously recognizing it as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)” on January 30, 2020 (Cai et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). The unexpected emergence of the novel coronavirus has had an unprecedented impact on the entire world. Thus, the issue has gained and continues to gain traction, owing largely to the increasing rate of human-to-human transmission, which causes severe respiratory disorders and, more importantly, its unrestrained lethality. In fact, over 7 million people were affected by the virus within 6 months, resulting in the deaths of nearly 434,796 people and the recovery of approximately 4,272,909 people (Worldometer, 2020). The lack of available clinical vaccines to combat the virus prompted a global decision to implement lockdown measures, which were first implemented by the Chinese central government in Wuhan on January 23, 2020. This lockdown move was commended globally and particularly by
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is “unprecedented in public health history” (Crossley, 2020). Between April and June 2020, there were widespread declarations of lockdown in over 100 countries. This lockdown became an unavoidable option as a result of both anticipated and unexpected macroeconomic shocks caused by the evolving virus.
Lockdown has been conceptualized as a government-imposed emergency response that requires people to remain indoors in the event of an outbreak. In the case of COVID-19, the ultimate goal of the lockdown measure was to flatten the virus’s curve. The exercise includes the closure of all activity-based centers such as schools, hotels, markets, religious houses, and so on, which could affect a large number of people.
get together (NCDC, 2020; CDC, 2020; WHO, 2020).
Businesses and other economic sectors were all targeted as a result of these measures. While the most critical sectors were operating at low levels. Given the prevalence of delivery services in Nigeria, the restrictions imposed on the general public hampered their operation. This study seeks to investigate the impact of Covid-19 lockdown on delivery services on this basis.
1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT
The virus was first detected in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, when an Italian citizen visiting the country tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. On March 9, 2020, a second case of the virus was reported in Ewekoro, Ogun State, involving a Nigerian citizen who had come into contact with the virus.
Index case from Italy. The rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus plunged countries all over the world into a health crisis, including Nigeria. The implementation of lockdown measures was deemed the best option for combating the virus’s spread. However, this drastic but necessary measure had ramifications for major economic, business, and commercial services such as delivery. Delivery services as a type of business in Nigeria suffered limitations during the Covid-19 lockdown due to strict movement restrictions, low patronage as many potential customers experienced low income, and many more lost their jobs. According to a KPMG (2020) study, 94 percent of global and local delivery businesses in Nigeria have been impacted and have experienced COVID-19 disruptions.
1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on delivery service in Nigeria. Other specific goals include:
Discover the nature of the Covid-19 lockdown effect on delivery service usage.
Examine how much delivery service was used during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Investigate the difficulties that delivery service businesses faced during the lockdown.
1.4 QUESTION FOR RESEARCH
a. What is the nature of the Covid-19 lockdown effect on delivery service usage in Nigeria?
b. To what extent was delivery service used in Nigeria during the Covid-19 lockdown?
c. What difficulties did delivery service businesses face during the lockdown?
1.5 THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
This research looked at the impact of the Covid-19 Lockdown on delivery services in Nigeria.
will reveal the nature and utility of Nigeria’s delivery services. Furthermore, this study will reveal findings on how the unprecedented outbreak of Covid-19 affected delivery service businesses, and relevant recommendations from this study will be useful to delivery service business owners and other businesses with similar operations. This study will be relevant to researchers, students, teachers, and the general public based on their areas of interest.
1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES
This study focuses solely on the impact of Covid-19 lockdown on delivery services in Nigeria, with GIG logistics Abeokuta Lagos state serving as a case study.
1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS
The main limitation of this study is the researcher’s limited time frame.
to carry out this research. More specifically, financial constraints and language barriers were major limiting factors in this study.
1.8. TERM DEFINITION
Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) 2019 (COVID-19) refers to illness caused by a novel coronavirus now known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; formerly known as 2019-nCoV), which was discovered during a respiratory illness outbreak in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.
Lockdown: A lockdown is a policy that requires people or communities to remain where they are, usually due to specific risks to themselves or others if they are free to move and interact.
Delivery Service: the act of providing customers with delivery to their respective destinations.
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