The lockdown has been tough for many and there are indocations thatt things are likely to get worse before they get better. As recorded cases hit 260, the federal government has hinted members of public that staying at home was an instruction and “not a request.” While officials cannot answer how long we could remain in the lockdown, it seems it could go on for months.
We do not know when life will go back to normal, but as neighbourliness, nature and air quality resurge, there are some machinery that will never remain the same.
TRAVEL INDUSTRY
The lockdown has left the travel industry in a parlous state with thousands of airlines grounded, the new rail road coaches suspending routes and a rapid drop in use of bus and local train travel.
It has also revealed the extent to which technology has made many business trips obsolete. People now initiate, discuss and seal businesses from the comfort of their isolation and transactions are being made online, as the FG grants partial operation to all financial institutions.
It is believed that the number of aircraft and indeed, buses will reduce after this crisis.
TOURISM & HOSPITALITY
The biggest potential impact on leisure time has been the effect of the coronavirus crisis on the tourism industry. With people unable to leave their houses in many parts of the world, no one has been able to go on holiday, leaving millions of previously perfect viable businesses without any income.
Airlines were the first to fall victim to the crisis and there are fears that others could follow suit. Other major operators are at risk as are the small hotels, holiday lets, campsites, and other businesses like cafes and tour guides, that rely on the tourist monies.
CORPORATE WORK
Many people lucky enough to have corporate jobs have reported the transition from office-based to home-based working to be relatively straight forward, except for the IT-deficient staff, who have refused to embrace the luxury of convenience and ease that it has brought to work space.
With the proliferation of conference Whatsapp and Skype, video conferencing and remote working that are a lot more reliable than they were before and they could potentially open up the digital workplace. This way, companies can pay less salaries and get more workforce to work effectively from their homes.
There is no doubt, that businesses that work flexibly thrive, so long may want it to continue after the pandemic has faded.
More people are likely to ask to work from home, one to two days per week, easing pressure on the transport system and reducing stress among the workforce.
There are fears, howevere, that this will lead to thousands if not hundred of thousands of job losses,
CASHLESS POLICY
Cash is no longer king in this age of infection as people contemplate just how many hands their notes have passed through. in this lockdown period. Shoppers make larger purchases without having to punch their pin into a potentially dirty keypad.
While this is convenient for internet-enabled age groups and the salaried classes, it can spell difficulties for the elderly, especially the group who dont believe in the mobile banking system.
The move towards cashless, while well-intentioned, could hurt vulnerable groups – particularly if initiatives like mobile bank branches are permanently withdrawn.
ISP (INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS) BROADBAND
The stayhome lockdown has equally exposed the efficiency and deliqency of some internet service providers. There are chances that some ISP users will discard their existing internet providers for a better one, after the lockdown.
Never in the history of the internet has there been such a sudden shift in the way we use online technology as now. Unable to meet people face-to-face, the world has suddenly shifted from direct contact to having virtual meetings overnight
LOCAL SHOPS
Grocery shops have experienced an unexpected relevance during the Covid-19 crisis. The patronage of small-scale business owners at cornershops and local kiosks has risen within the weeks of lockdown. Some of the local sellers, especially the mallams who double as Security or gatemen, now raise prices of their goods as buyers have no choice.
While images of empty shelves and tales of long waiting lists for deliveries from major online supermarket chains have taken over social media, most corner shops have kept calm and well stocked.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
Parents have found they are not only breadwinners, but also teachers and live-in entertainers for their children, placing a huge amount of stress on an already difficult situation.
The lockdown has given parents, ample time to relate, socialise and interact whth their children and are able to evaluate the academic standard vis-a-vis the cost invested on them.
While some parents will appreciate the efforts of teachers on their kids, some will discover the extent to which their children/wards have gone backward. academically. It is expected that some schools will therefore, lose pupils while some will gain more.
SPORTS/BETTING
The lockdown is a big blow to for lovers of sports and the betting companies. The global sporting vacuum caused by the coronavirus pandemic continued this week and that has reduced the usual debate of who is better than who or who is winning what. The Betting companies are also not in good time as customers with the betting app are not inspired to to bet on anything, when the major sports have been suspended indefinitely.
EVENT&PARTIES
Lagos before now, has been the hub of social engagement. Saturdays have been tagged Owambe day for party rockers, and there was hardly any weekend that there would be no fewer than 1000 parties on the Island and mainland.
The Aso-Ebi suppliers, Jewellery merchants, food vendors and decorators are counting their loses as the lockdown is heading towards the third week. There have been marriages, birthdays and burials that should have made social statements but have gone underground, due to the lockdown.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 68th birthday would have been av event that people would have talked about for months, but for the lockdown, all the prospective beneficiaries in the planning and executing process had to accept their fates.
CHURCH
In the past 2 weeks, the churches have been running Live service online for members to connect from the comfort of their homes. every form of payment was made online, while the services go live on internet.
Aside from the fact that the church-goers have come to terms with the age-long citation of “where two or three are gathered”, most church goers may develop the reluctance to wake up very early on a Sunday morning and prepare to attend a first of four services at over 70 kilometers away, with the understanding that God message can reach them anywhere.
The outbreak may have further entrenched the direction in which society was already heading. After coronavirus has passed, we may find that life never fully returns to “normal”
Even before the outbreak, people were already working from home, shopping online, and having food delivered, rather than going to restaurants.
