COVID-19, TRUST AND GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA: A TRIANGLE OF CONSEQUENCES

Ikechukwu Kenneth Okwuosa, Chinenye Obi

Abstract


The deadly new coronavirus that was first discovered in Wuhan China in 2019 soon became a global pandemic spreading throughout different nations of the world including Nigeria. A gap in literature is on the effect of governance on the fight against the Virus.  This research therefore examines ethically the effects of   trust and governance on the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. Data for this research were collected through secondary sources and were analyzed qualitatively. Findings revealed that to curtail the spread of the virus, the Nigerian government, developed protocols, introduced lockdown measures and procured vaccines to be administered free to her citizens.  Bad governance over the years has led to distrust of the government’s claims on the existence of the Virus in the country and its sincerity in the fight against the Virus. This   has led to the development of different conspiracy theories about the virus, a large scale violation of the protocol developed by the government, poor uptake of the vaccine, increase in the number of infections, a rise in the death toll, the emergence of new strain of the virus and a waste of government resources, further exposing governments inadequacies and leading to more bad governance, thereby creating a triangle of consequences.  It is recommended that the Nigerian government should do more to win the trust of its citizens by being more transparent in its dealings, show proper accountability and get the people more involved in governance as a means of achieving better governance. 

Keywords


COVID- 19, Trust, governance, consequences, Nigeria.

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References


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