COVID-19 Awareness and Compliance with Protocol in Selected Secondary Schools in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Forschungsarbeit aus dem Jahr 2020 im Fachbereich Politik - Region: Afrika, , Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Prior to the WHO pronouncement of COVID-19 as a global public health challenge and pandemic, many Nigerians regarded the disease as a distant white man¿s infirmity that could never spread to their abode. Without recourse to expert advice and recommendations, Nigerians and their government downplayed the emergence of COVID-19 in their territory thereby hesitating the adoption of initial preventive measures which would have saved costs while protecting the citizenry from undue exposure to the virus. With the confirmation of the index COVID-19 case in Lagos, Nigeria on February 20, 2020, other parts of the country including Akwanga Local Government of Nasarawa state in north-central region continued their normal routines and social activities without observing the sketchy preventive measures initially outlined by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC, 2020). The public opinion within Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa state in central Nigeria was that COVID-19 is a ¿big man disease¿ (i.e. disease of the highly influential persons). With the low level of education within this region of Nigeria, their immediate conclusion and misinformation on those vulnerable to the disease were expected.

Furthermore, the prevailing presence of urban slums, dense population, inadequate access to potable water, fragile healthcare system, sharing of sanitation facilities with a high degree of social mixing among the inhabitants of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa state will make the implementation of hygiene and other public health measures necessary for the curbing of the coronavirus impossible. Also, the spread of misinformation and tales regarding the COVID-19 and promotion of unscientific traditional treatment within the Area further jeopardized the implementation of preventive measures.

Based on this background that this study sort to investigates COVID-19 awareness and compliance with protocol in some selected secondary schools in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

The aim of the study is to investigates COVID-19 awareness and compliance with protocol in some selected secondary schools in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study is to know whether secondary school students have knowledge about COVID-19 in Akwanga Local Government Area and whether secondary school students in Akwanga Local Government Area comply with the COVID19 protocol.