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Workers Day 2020: The Challenges And Economic Implications Of Lockdown On Nigerian Workers

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Today is May 1st, International Workers Day. While the date varies, the month of May is one where every country celebrates the cogs churning the wheel of its economy; its workforce.

 

The year 2020 kicked off quite roughly. While the possibility of Third World War ( WWIII) between America and Iraq hung in the clouds, news of a novel Coronavirus ravaging the Chinese city of Wuhan filtered through the cracks of the internet.

 

Very few, especially in this part of the world took it seriously.

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Within months, COVID-19 had roared past Wuhan borders, proceeding to shut down some major economy of the world. Photo: The Newyork Times

 

We were in for a shocker. In a few months, Coronavirus was in full beast mode, shutting down economies of the world; Nigeria’s inclusive.

 

On 30th March 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari imposed lockdown in Lagos, FCT, and Ogun State. The President further extended the lockdown by another two weeks, as the number of confirmed cases continued to rise.

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Most workers except those in essential services switched to working from home.

 

What many employers had previously refused to consider had become the only way; the future had come.

 

However, the smoothness of transition to working from home is heavily reliant on the existing structure of each company.

 

Companies who’d not previously automated their pattern of work were left flailing in the wind while their counterparts who already embraced technology, thrived.

 

Online collaborating platforms like Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and other apps are seeing a new influx of users, as workers log onto them for meetings and task delivery.

Challenges of working from home

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Photo: The Network Journal

Poor power and internet service

Working from home in a country with multi-faceted problems such as erratic power supply whilst delivering their duties in an unprecedented pandemic, has been challenging. Also, poor internet service after one has paid huge sums is frustrating in the way.

Every time is work time

Because working from home does not come with official hours, most workers find themselves working almost round the clock. From taking meetings at unusual hours to replying emails at midnight, tasks never seem to end.

 

Some workers have found themselves flummoxed with work and even while in lockdown, and are barely finding any time for themselves.

Interfering Children

Working parents with young children are having a tough time as well. There are many instances of parents fielding their kids with one hand whilst trying to remain professional in serious meetings.

 

Kids barging in, crying, and demanding attention during work hours is one of the problems parents face. No creche/schools are taking children in the lockdown, so every working parent has to juggle work and kids all at once.

 

All of these and more are unique problems workers have not had to encounter before, and from all indications, they’re doing a mighty good job of handling it.

Economic damages of the lockdown and its effects on Nigeria’s workforce

Asides the health sector, the pandemic has had a colossal impact on the economy. .

 

Companies are struggling to make any revenue in a lockdown and are barely keeping head above water.
This has resulted in pay cuts for some workers while the less fortunate ones are dismissed.

 

According to a report by the African Union, the vulnerable African economies (Including Nigeria’s) could be heavily damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also reported the possibility of up to 20 million job losses as well as a looming social unrest.

 

African economies remain informal and very extroverted and vulnerable to external shocks,” said the report.

 

In a related report, the COVID-19 crisis, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)  notes that the “Pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020 – equivalent to 195 million full-time workers.

 

Workers and businesses are facing catastrophe, in both developed and developing economies,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder via it’s official Twitter page. “We have to move fast, decisively, and together. The right, urgent, measures, could make the difference between survival and collapse”

 

The Nigerian Labour Congress have since protested the mass retention of workers. The NLC president Ayuba Wabba urged the Nigerian Government to instead focus on fixing the ailing economic sector

 

Government must now major on the major.” he said. “We must rededicate ourselves to issues that bother the majority. The focus must be efficient, resilient, and inclusive health and education systems, ” he added.

 

Despite these challenges, we’re very hopeful that the Nigerian economy will see through this quagmire and rise to its full potential.

 

Happy Workers Day to all workers and keep doing your good work!

 

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