Federal Government Of Nigeria Research Articles

The Clamour for an End to Police Brutality: Satire Songs of the EndSars Protests in Nigeria

The EndSars protests, which occurred in Nigeria in October 2020 employed a great deal of music, which include solidarity songs, popular music, and satirical songs. This article investigates the use of satirical songs in the EndSars protests. The protest, which recorded a massive turnout of protesters in October 2020 across major cities in Nigeria started several months on the social media, most especially Twitter, a microblogging website before it was finally taken to the streets. Anchored on the concept of social movement, it employs the use of participant observation and the social media platforms to gather data which were analysed using content analysis. Apart from being used to ridicule the Nigerian Police which has not engaged Boko-Haram terrorists but instead unleashes terror on harmless youths, satirical songs were used by protesters to express their long piled up anger at the Federal Government of Nigeria. This is due to several unfulfilled campaign promises, as well as the bad state of the nation’s economy which has contributed to the hike in price of food items and other essential commodities, coupled with the growing rate of unemployment. The Nigerian government should use the opportunity created by the massive protests to execute a thorough reform of the Nigerian security establishments and also engage youths more productively in order to enable them to contribute their quota to nation-building.

The Challenges of Estimated Billing on Electricity Consumers in Nigeria: A Review

Despite Government efforts, over 4.6 million Nigerians are on the estimated billing system. Nigeria has one of the highest aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses at 43.65%, which has been attributed to low investments in distribution networks exacerbated by the slow progress of metering of customers which has posed a protracted liquidity challenge to the industry. There is a need to reduce these losses; hence this paper examined the Nigerian electricity billing system through meta-analysis of literature, with a focus on estimated billing, the metering situation, and its challenges in Nigeria. Finally, solutions such as the implementation of a cost reflective tariff scheme are proffered through recommendations to distribution companies and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Interrogating the Causes of Industrial Apathy in Gombe, North East Nigeria

This paper examined the factors and actors that coalesced to engender disinterest in the establishment and sustenance of manufacturing industries in Gombe State, North East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The study adopted a historical method anchored on oral interviews with sixty (60) local manufacturers, and government officials across the eleven local government areas of Gombe state. Secondary sources in forms of published books, journal articles, Newsletters and Annual reports were also used. The result showed that lack of capital, epileptic electricity supply and weak political will constitute the major causes of industrial apathy in Gombe. Other factors include weak maintenance culture, lack of technical knowhow, longer gestation period in reaping the fruits of manufacturing, crisis of confidence and disdain for loans owing to interest attached to it. Finally, the study argues and recommends that prospects for reviving comatose industries and establishing new ones still exist in the study area. This ray of hope is informed by the emergence of participant political culture which could usher strong political will capable of harnessing the huge mineral endowments of the area. Another impetus added to this optimism is the Federal Government of Nigeria’s policy of economic diversification away from dependence on crude oil.

ENVIRONMENTAL TAX AND POLLUTION CONTROL IN NIGERIA

The study examined environmental tax and its impact on pollution control in Nigeria. It specifically examined the impact of environmental tax on air pollution, it examined the impact of caron tax on air pollution, it examined the impact of environmental tax on water pollution, lastly it examined the impact of environmental tax on waste disposal. The study predicated on planned behaviour theory and value believe norm theory of environmentalism. Primary data source was explored in presenting the facts of the situation. Purposive probability sampling techniques was used to select targeted respondents. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics for 183 questionnaires. The findings revealed that environmental tax has significant effect on pollution control. This is based on the fact that a large percentage (90.8 percent) of the respondents is in concurrence with the argument that environmental tax has significant effect on pollution control. It was concluded that environmental tax has positive and significant effect on pollution control in Nigeria. The researcher recommends that considering the seriousness of this environmental hazards which posed a great threat to the life of the people, Federal Government of Nigeria should design a tax process will permit environmental tax policies, so that the levy of tax be designed placing its burden on those who are responsible for causing a particular environmental problem, or problems and also make provision for statutory incentives to minimize administrative cost to the government and compliance cost imposed on the tax payers.

Security Governance in the Pandemic Period: The Covid-19 Nigeria Example

COVID-19 sent a wave of pandomania across Nigeria, like in every other country due to health risk that it come with, which was declared pandemic. However, its impact has been felt on all aspect of human endeavour; social economic and political. In Nigeria, the pandemic has affects security governance due to pivoted role assigned security agencies in the enforcement of restriction of movement and lockdown imposed by the federal government of Nigeria. The security agencies involved has not been limited to police but it include both military and paramilitary as the case may be. In the midst of continues spread of diseases and multiplicity of security agencies, security governance became a serious issues. Through the government adopted a pragmatic approached, the result has been of mix blessing. It is in light of the above that the paper examines security, government in the COVID-19 pandemic period using Nigeria as a case study.

The Innovation of Government Bonds in the Growth of an Emergent Capital Market

The growth of an emerging capital market is necessary and requires all available resources and inputs from various sources to realize this objective. Several debates on government bonds’ contribution to Nigeria’s capital market developmental growth have ensued but have not triggered comprehensive studies in this area. The present research work seeks to close the breach by probing the impact of government bonds on developing the capital market in Nigeria from 2003–2019. We employ total market capitalization as the response variable to proxy the capital market, while various government bonds serve as the independent variables. The inflation rate moderates the predictor components. The research uses multiple regression technique to assess the explanatory variables’ impact on the total market capitalization. At the same time, diagnostic tests help guarantee the normality of the regression model’s data distribution and appropriateness. The findings reveal that the Federal Government of Nigeria’s (FGN) bond is statistically significant and positive in influencing Nigeria’s capital market growth. The other predictor variables are not found significant in this study. The study suggests that the Government should improve on the government bonds’ coupon, while still upholding the none default norm in paying interest and refunding principal to investors when due.

Capital Flight and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

The literature from development economics asserted that two major spillover effects of the prevalence of capital flight and low rate of investment in developing economies are the persistent increase in unemployment and absolute poverty. Since an increase in the poverty rate can be viewed in terms of forgone private and public investment in some poverty reducing programmes like education, health intervention and job creation. Thus, this study investigates the interplay between capital flight and poverty reduction in Nigeria using secondary data covering the period between 1981 and 2017. This study employs the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test; Philip Perron (PP) test; Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin’s (KPSS) all forms of unit root tests; Johansen test for co-integration and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) for long run estimates. The study found that an increase in poverty level in the country would be preceded by raising capital flight coupled with increasing dependence ratio and decline in economic growth rate. In this scenario, the effect of a single digit economic growth is dissipated once the circle continues unabated. Consequently, this study recommends that the Federal Government of Nigeria through the relevant financial authorities should enforce regulation against illicit flow of capital and prosecute offenders. The Federal Government must be seen to support the agency efforts against illicit flow in the country.

Feedlot Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Steers Fed High-Energy Rations

THREE feeding trials, 24 [pure Zebu and Zebu x Friesian crossbred] steers per each, were conducted to compare 4 rations [treatments) at three different periods of the year. Four equal and randomly distributed groups of steers were put on 4 different but iso-calorie rations. Levels of crude protein varied from 21.4 to 18.9% as shown in table 1. The steers were individually fed for 56 days to effect 1.12 kg. gain per head daily. Digestibility levels of the four rations were determined [Table 2]. At slaughter, carcass data were obtained and analysed [Table 4]. Animal performance, and economics of the feeding operation data are presented in Table 3. Results of these studies showed that the 30-20% cotton seed rations gave significantly [P <0.001] higher total liveweight gains, slightly heavier carcasses and better grades than the other two rations. Considering results of all the parameters measured and Federal Government of Nigeria's concerted efforts to boost grains and meat production on large scales, ration 3 should be recommended. Because, with abundant supplies of grains and regular supplies of animals, faster throughput and increased gross return per feedlot per annum are feasible.

Redesigning Educational Delivery Systems: The Needs and Options for Continuous Learning during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic in Nigeria

Education has been one of the worst-hit sectors of the economy since the detection of the first index case of Covid-19 in Nigeria on February 27, 2020. Like many affected countries of the world, the Federal government of Nigeria has taken several necessary precautionary measures to curtail the spread of the disease. This has led to the suspension of all educational activities especially in-class teaching and learning processes. This paper studied the state of education in Nigeria and the effort of government towards continuous education in comparison to the measures put in place by other developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper equally reviewed five different available and popular online learning platforms that can be implemented by the government to provide start-up educational programs that would help to keep students on course by learning remotely from home throughout the period of Covid-19 pandemic. These include Distance Learning, Social media, Virtual Classroom, M-Learning, and Flipped classroom. Implementation of these online forms of education will successfully offer alternatives and ensure continuous education presently and in the future. The recommendations of this study would be useful even for other developing countries that are yet to discover any alternative to the disrupted in-class learning activities so that their students will start to learn from home.

Barriers to Accessing Financial Institutions Funding for Nigerian SMEs

Small businesses are recognized worldwide as a catalyst of socio-economic development. Like all developed and developing countries, due to the economic importance of SMEs, the federal government of Nigeria is developing policies and strategies to diversify its economy from total dependence on oil. Part of the economic development diversification effort by the federal government of Nigeria is to develop entrepreneurship and small businesses. The most crucial aspect of SMEs in Nigeria is their contribution to employing most citizens. Despite the importance of socio-economic development, most SMEs fail within the first five years. Many challenges are facing SMEs in Nigeria, which resulted in their failure. Although financial resources have been a critical success factor to SMEs, they find it difficult to access financial institutions funding to finance innovation and business opportunities to ignite success and growth. Many studies had identified numerous barriers to access to financial institutions funding, but they apply to locations of the findings. The objective of this paper was to identify the barriers that are preventing small businesses from accessing financial institutions funding in Nigeria. In this study, 296 small business owners/managers participated in a quantitative self-administered survey, and 15 owners/managers with adequate knowledge of small business managers participated in a semi-structured interview. The mixed research method revealed four barriers to accessing financial institutions funding to Nigerian SMEs: inadequate access to financial institutions; inadequate education, skills, and experience of owners/managers; exorbitant interest rates; and gender discrimination. The study made seven recommendations for removing the barriers which might spur financial institutions' funding of SMEs in Nigeria. Improving access to financial institutions funding will increase success and growth, reducing unemployment and igniting socio-economic development as envisaged by the federal government of Nigeria. The study concluded that most of the recommendations would be implemented by government and regulators through appropriate policies and strategies that will increase the access of small business financial institutions funding.

Utilisation of order processing technology for logistics process improvement in the Nigerian construction industry

The logistic technologies for effective and efficient ‘order processing operations’ in the areas of tracking, shipping, replenishment, dispatching and holding of inventory are deficient in the Nigerian construction industry, when compared to manufacturing and retailing sectors. This is confirmed to have a significant effect on the performance of the construction sector. This article assessed how order processing technology utilised by manufacturing and retail industries could improve the order processing logistics operations of the construction industry. Lagos State and the F.C.T. Abuja, Nigeria, were the selected geographical study areas, from which five manufacturing companies, five retailing companies and five construction projects were purposively selected. Mixed methods research strategy was used. The research instruments included an observation guide (quantitative) and semi-structured interviews (qualitative). The collected quantitative data was analysed, using descriptive analytical tools: frequencies and percentiles. The qualitative data was analysed, using the thematic method. The result revealed that 80% and 100% of the manufacturing and retailing industries, respectively, observed, adopted barcoding technology for order processing purposes. Only 40% of the observed construction project adopted barcoding technology for order processing in the following: 2.4% for receiving process; 0.9% for put-away process; 0.9% for shipping process (stock control); 1.2% for dispatching process; 0.6% for replenishment process, and 1.2% for tracking inventory (stock tracking). In addition, 100% and 80% of the manufacturing and retailing industries, respectively, observed, adopted Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for order processing purposes. Only 40% of the observed construction projects adopted RFID technology for order processing. It was also revealed that utilisation of the order processing technology could have the following benefits: managerial control in the construction industry; shorter processing time; easy way of tracking materials on site, and increased speed of work in the construction industries. The research concludes that effective utilisation of order processing technology in the logistics system could lead to full efficiency gains in the order processing aspect of the construction industry. It is recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria should mandate all major construction project stakeholders to attend workshops on the use of recent technologies in the management of construction operations.

Evaluation of the use and effectiveness of telemedicine among the health professionals during the COVID 19 lockdown period: A cross sectional study

Background: Telemedicine has been documented as a viable option in attending to patient's need where distance is a critical factor. The Federal Government of Nigeria on March 27, 2020, imposed a total lockdown in Lagos state in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The restriction in movement prevented many patients from attending their regular clinics and physical consultations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use and effectiveness of telemedicine among the hospital health professionals during the lockdown period. Methods: This was an online cross-sectional study among doctors at a tertiary health facility in Lagos. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional ethical committee. A list of the telephone and WhatsApp contacts of doctors were obtained from the hospital directory; the SurveyMonkey tool was used as an online web-based structured questionnaire for data collection. The information obtained was analyzed to find means and averages. Results: A total of 104 doctors completed the survey. The proportion of participants who used telemedicine was 93.3%, with the most commonly used telemedicine option being phone call (27.1%) and WhatsApp video call (27.1%). The main management provided during this period was counseling (56.6%). Seventy-nine percent of the participants were satisfied with the result of the management provided through telemedicine options, but the major concern was that of ethical issues (36.2%). Majority (44.2%) of the respondents agree that telemedicine was effective during the COVID-19 lockdown period. There was no association found between gender, age, designation, and perceived effectiveness of telemedicine by respondents in this study (P = 0.88, 0.4, and 0.07, respectively). Conclusion: Telemedicine was found to be a useful tool for effective patient's management during the lockdown period although there exist ethical concerns. The formulation of policies guiding its use will ensure the security of information and patient's confidentiality.

COVID-19 and the Food Deficit Economy in Southeastern Nigeria

This study examines the significant impact of the total lockdown adopted by the Nigerian government to checkmate the spread of Coronavirus in the country. The policy has been commended but it had a devastating effect on the food economy of the Igbo people of Southeastern Nigeria. The study argues that the pandemic actually entrenched and deepened food scarcities in the region. This food deficit in the region was only possible because, among the several Nigerian ethnic nationalities, the Igbo owe much of their food supplies from outside. The Coronavirus pandemic total lockdown introduced by the federal government of Nigeria between the months of March to May 2020 amplified the food supply challenge. So while the crisis of food deficiency had the effect of traumatizing the people between 1967 and 1970 on account of the federal government food blockade leading to the brutal defeat of secessionist Biafra, the pandemic completely shut down the region with high prices of food across the length and breadth of the region. Beyond the corona pandemic and as authorities are nearing the objective of flattening the curve, the study advances sundry opinions and suggestions on food security and food control agenda for the survival of the people. Data collections for the study was carried out through oral interviews basically focus group discussion from market men and women, newspaper reports, and participant-observer methods of research analysis as the researchers are residents in Igboland.

Nigerian Separatist Movements, Growing Secession Agitations and the Stand of International Human Rights Law

[enter This paper firstly examines the unabated ongoing agitations for secession from the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Yoruba and Igbo ethnic majorities who are indigenous to Southern Nigeria but also to some areas of Northern Nigeria. After years of unheeded calls for constitution amendment and restructuring that could heal the maladies of marginalisation, ethnic cleansing, and insecurity masterminded by religious terrorists and jihadists masquerading as herdsmen, the Yoruba and Igbo agitators have now insisted that they are no longer interested in either constitution amendment or restructuring but in having an Oduduwa Republic and a Republic of Biafra respectively. Even the predominantly Christian indigenous peoples of the southern parts of Northern Nigeria, who are popularly called the Middle Belt, have warned that they would never associate with the Muslim Core North if Nigeria breaks up. The reasons that the Southerners and the Middle Belters have alleged for their positions are marginalisation, ethnic cleansing and religious terrorism by some Core Northern ethnic and religious groups. The paper then examines in details the justifiability or otherwise of those secession agitations under international human rights law, some of whose instruments are domesticated by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Such rights as the right to self-determination, indigenous peoples’ rights, right to freedom of association, right to freedom of expression and right to life are considered vis-a-vis the ongoing conflict between some of the agitators and the Nigerian Armed Forces, which have had reasons to deploy airstrikes against suspected hideouts of militiamen agitating for a sovereign Republic of Biafra. The research adopts a doctrinal method and makes use of both primary and secondary sources of data from both the international and municipal forums. It finds out that a popular agitation for self-determination or secession referendum is an inalienable, natural and supranational right under both international law and the Nigerian municipal law and that those agitations must however be conducted peacefully. With South Sudan, Western Sahara, Eritrea, East Timor, Kosovo, Crimea and Brexit, among others, as precedents, it also finds out that it is the duty of the United Nations and other concerned members of the international community under the UN Charter and other relevant treaties to insist on the conduct of a referendum in the Nigerian case to avert an imminent full-blown civil war that could precipitate unprecedented humanitarian disaster in and beyond Nigeria, which is home to one-fifth of Africa’s population. The paper accordingly calls on the UN, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, United States, United Kingdom, European Union and other responsible members of the international community to act fast under the relevant international law instruments, more so as the whole world has now become a global village. Body]

The Mediating Impact of SMEDAN Initiative on the Relationship Between CSFs and SMEs' Success: A Conceptual Paper

Nigeria's federal government, after the oil boom of the 1970s, created policies, including the SMEDAN initiative, to trigger socio-economic development through entrepreneurship and small business development. Notwithstanding the importance of SMEs' socio-economic development and the Nigerian government's effort to support entrepreneurship and SMEs development, SMEs fail within the first five years. There is not enough information that can be used by SME owners/managers to develop best business practice policies to mitigate SMEs' failure and trigger socio-economic development. Critical success factor (CSFs) provides information that can be used to develop the best business practice to mitigate SMEs failure. Researchers stated that for owners/managers of SMEs to use CSFs models, they must replicate studies in new geographical areas or new industries. There is no CSFs model for the Nigerian location. The purpose is to position a CSFs model that can be used as information by owners/managers of SMEs to develop the best business policies to mitigate SME failures in Nigeria. This paper presents a thesis concepts where the researcher used a mixed research approach to position a CSFs model that can provide the information that can be used by owners/managers to mitigate SMEs failure and trigger socio-economic development. Mitigating SMEs' failure in Nigeria will reduce unemployment and poverty, which might trigger socio-economic development as envisaged by the federal government. This conceptual paper revealed the findings of the pilot study for the thesis were it was revealed that five variables impact SMEs' success in Jigawa State, Nigeria.

Tertiary Education Trust Fund interventions and sustainable development goals of Olabisi Onabanjo University

Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) was established by Federal Government of Nigeria to tackle the problem of inadequate funding of tertiary institutions which had been a major obstacle to the achievement of sustainable developments in these institutions. This study therefore examined the impact of TETFUND interventions on sustainable development goals (research and academic growth and continuous provision of instructional materials and laboratory equipment) of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted and qualitative data were collected using a questionnaire to elicit information from a total number of 250 respondents from total population of 1,723 staff of the university. From the sample size, 128 (56%) were male while 122 (54%) were female. Data collected were analyzed using regression analysis to test all the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that TETFUND interventions have significant impact on sustainable development goals of Olabisi Onabanjo University. It is therefore recommended that Federal Government should step up efforts to ensure that tertiary institutions (federal and state owned) are adequately funded through TETFUND and also do more in the area of human resource development for the research and academic growth of these institutions.

A review on the state of abattoirs in Nigeria during COVID-19 pandemic era: Potential threats and public health interventions

The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease with global impact. Different intervention measures have been rolled out to flatten the curve, however the unhygienic conditions of abattoirs in Nigeria may be a perfect breeding ground for the novel coronavirus, hence could pose a threat to public health. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported among individuals who had either visited or had consumed food sold at the wet animal market in Wuhan, megacity of China in late December, 2019. The outbreak compelled China authority to close down all the wet animal markets in the Hubei province in an attempt to curb zoonotic transmission of the virus. Due to the unhygienic conditions of Nigerian abattoirs, butchers are more likely to come in contact with contaminated objects or surfaces and when they do, they may unknowingly infect themselves by touching their noses, mouth, or eyes with contaminated hands. Consequently, the virus could find its way into the respiratory tract to initiates an infection. Worst still, the lack of social distancing in the abattoirs can promote local transmission amongst butchers if some of them are infected and remain asymptomatic. These asymptomatic individuals can constitute a potential reservoir in the propagation and transmission of the virus within the abattoirs and in the community if they are not identified, isolated and treated. The current pandemic poses a threat of zoonotic transmission, hence, there is need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to make concerted effort in restoring sanitary in the abattoirs in order to forestall an outbreak of a virus that may be more deadly than SARS-CoV-2. This review therefore seeks to evaluate the growing concerns of the unhygienic conditions of abattoirs in Nigeria amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the threats it poses to public health and the possible way forward.

OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN NIGERIA: RUMOR VS. REALITY

The paper examined and interrogated the concept of ownership and control as it affects crude oil and solid minerals right vis-à-vis its impact on the current intergovernmental relations between the federal government and the natural resources bearing states in Nigeria. The paper adopted doctrinal research method. The paper examined two extant legislations namely; the Petroleum Act and the Minerals and Mining Act and found that both Acts have extensive provisions that have adequately provided for and vest ownership and control over crude oil and solid mineral resources in the federal government of Nigeria. The work found that institutional agencies such as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and other related bodies actually carry out enforcement of the provisions of the Act against crude oil theft and establishment of illegal refineries in the Niger Delta Region. However, the paper also found that the enforcement mechanism of the Minerals and Mining Act by its institutional framework is rather weak. The work, therefore, recommends, among other things, that the federal government of Nigeria should reduce dependent on crude oil exploration and its attendant proceeds to solid minerals exploration because the country does not only have abundant solid minerals, but it is also because solid minerals have a great and wider international patronage than crude oil.

Comprehensive analysis of the effect of oil and non-oil revenues on economic growth in Nigeria

Revenue generation as the funding source for Nigeria's economic growth activities was challenging due to the government's mismanagement, tax avoidance, and corrupt practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The global crude oil prices declined. The challenges make Nigeria's federal government over-dependent on oil-generated revenues to experience several setbacks in achieving its economic growth goals. However, for the last decade, the Government has also diversified the economy and focus on the non-oil area. Thus, this study examined the effects of generating oil and non-oil revenues on Nigeria's economic growth from 1989 through 2018 using secondary data extracted in the Central Bank of Nigeria's statistical bulletin. The study employed the model for analytical co-integration and error correction. Similar analytical processes were applied to the multivariate data on components of oil and non-oil revenue, exchange rates, and real gross domestic products. Results generated indicated that the oil revenue harms real gross domestic products in Nigeria, but this is the same with effects reported from non-oil revenue. Nonetheless, Nigeria's exchange rate gives a positive sign and statistical significance for real gross domestic products. Consequently, the study opined that the continuing decline in global crude oil prices, resistance from insurgents in Nigeria's oil-producing area, the Nigerian Government's profligate expenditure, the global COVID-19 health pandemic, among other factors, are harming the economic growth of Nigeria.

COVID-19 in Nigeria: implications for prevalent public mental health challenges

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to examine the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health with particular attention to the mental health of children, adolescents, and adults in the most populous country in Africa – Nigeria. Presently, the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is well-established in Nigeria with increasing community transmission. While a significant response has been initiated by the Federal Government of Nigeria through a multidisciplinary task force, there are challenges for the country’s already weak health sector and invariably the mental health systems. For example, the testing capacity is inadequate because of limited technical, infrastructural, financial and logistical capacity to rapidly scale-up testing which could be a reflection of the health system. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors examined and explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalent public mental health challenges in Nigeria, the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings The authors argued for sustained investments in digitally enhanced health-care delivery and medical surveillance system that incorporate public mental health in a way that accommodates equity in Nigeria. Originality/value The authors have examined the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health with particular attention to the mental health of children, adolescents and adults in the most populous country in Africa – Nigeria. Furthermore, they discussed emerging frameworks and strategies to build a clinical practice and research capacities for these populations