COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE ILLS OF NIGERIA’S EDUCATION SYSTEM: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

On the 27th of February 2020, the Federal Ministry of Health announced the confirmation of a Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Lagos, Nigeria. This was the first case to be reported in Nigeria since the beginning of the outbreak of the virus in China. The disease is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Following, the confirmation of the index case and first death, the whole country was thrown into pandemonium. In a bid to curtail the spread of the virus, the Federal Government announced a total lockdown of the country for the initial period of fourteen (14) days which is believed to be the incubation period of the virus. What is the implication of the Covid-19 pandemic on our education system? What are the ills of the education sector before the outbreak? What are the effects of covid-19 pandemic on Nigerian students? Methodologically, the paper adopts the historical analysis approach while data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The paper concludes that long term neglect of the education sector has overwhelmingly affected the system as a result of the shutdown occasioned by the corona virus pandemic.