The lockdown to tame the spread of COVID-19 has induced hunger. This might have led to the rise in incidence of robbery in Lagos.

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the global economy. In Nigeria, the prospect of growth in 2020 has been rather dimmed – the IMF projected that the Nigerian economy will slip into recession by the end of 2020 with growth of -3.4%.

In recognizing the dire consequences of the unhindered spread of the viral disease, the government, albeit hesitant at first, sprang into action. First a lockdown directive in three locations of the country – Lagos, Ogun and Abuja – was issued. Second, the federal and the Lagos state governments sought to cushion the effect of the lockdown on the most vulnerable people through palliative measures. But, as with everything “Nigerian”, such palliative measures have been masked with incoherency and disbursement has largely been shrouded in secrecy.

It was rumored that those who would get the foodstuff Lagos state planned to share would have been captured first on the database of Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) as been a bona fide resident of the state. In effect, the poor household of five resident in a rented two-bedroom apartment in the slum of Makoko must have to be captured by LASRRA to enjoy the benefit whereas the head of this household probably pay some form of tax to the “agberos” working on behalf of the Yaba LCDA or Lagos Mainland LGA.

Now petty thieves have taken over certain LGAs in Lagos and Ogun seeking escape route for the hunger the lockdown has unleashed. They spare no mercy in maiming their victims and making lives unbearable for law-abiding citizens who are adhering to the stay-at-home directive by the government. The law enforcement agencies seem to be incapacitated at this point. As someone jokingly said, it does seem the Nigerian Police are practicing the stay-at-home directives too. Citizens has resulted to forming vigilante groups who now stand guards at night to ward off these desperate hooligans in their community. 

But some of these nocturnal nonentities are simply trying to keep body and soul together – they are hungry – and the lockdown, which have cut off their source of livelihood, have worsen their situation especially with the increase in food prices occasioned by shocks to the food supply chain.

As a recent NBS General Survey Panel had shown, increase in food price was of greater concern to urban dwellers than rural inhabitants. Besides, the survey revealed that close to half (44%) of households reported being unable to eat healthy and nutritious/preferred foods because of lack of money while 41.3% ate only a few kinds of foods because of lack of money.

The long and short of this is that there is hunger in the land and if we don’t take actions now to tame this menace in a very sincere and responsible way, I am afraid we may just be headed towards affirming the evolutionary postulation of Darwinism.

In the coming days, our predicament will deteriorate as the lockdown continue to test the capacity of business resilience (which could erode their revenue base) and forces them to retrench worker or cut pay while causing people to draw down on savings.