COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN ENUGU STATE AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE MEASURES

A FIELD REPORT

Abstract

This report focused on the response measures of the Enugu State Government to the novel coronavirus pandemic under the administration of Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The objectives were to illuminate the measures initiated by the Enugu State government in response to the coronavirus pandemic and identify the challenges militating against the measures. Besides, the report further explored the optimal performance of the inter-ministerial and sectoral measures initiated by the administration in deference to the plights and expectations of its citizens. The report employed a qualitative methodological approach and used observational procedure and interviews to collect relevant data. In this regard, the researchers were engaged with the process as non-participant observers for a specific period of twenty-two weeks (March 15 to August 29). Employing unstructured interviews among government officials, representatives of tricycle riders union, Ogbommanu, health workers, petty traders union, civil society, and advocacy groups gained insight into public values, plights, and citizens expectations of government under the health emergency. Secondary data were drawn from the state Ministry of Health, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Budget and Planning, Board of Internal Revenue Service including media scripts and journal articles to add value to the analysis. To be sure, the data collected were content-analyzed to appreciate the government’s efforts and people’s expectations in a health emergency. The report revealed the drivers of the government’s responses in health, advocacy, infrastructures, restriction, socio-economic interventions, and education remedial measures to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Also, it identifies the institutional and attitudinal constraints militating against measures initiated by the state government. It, therefore, suggests a multi-sectoral blueprint, institutional proactiveness, advocacy, and informal sector policy initiative to improve the social welfare and economy of the Enugu state under the pandemic.