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The index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria was reported on 27 February 2020. Subsequently, the exponential increase in cases has brought about the partial and total lockdown of cities, the closure of all schools and the shutdown of government offices in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 and its subsequent drastic curtailment policies have implications on vulnerable groups, especially, informal workers who constitute about 70% of the active working population in Nigeria. This reflective discourse critically engages the plight of informal workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

The research was guided by the epistemology of pandemic interpretationism. It engages contextual reflections of the plight of economically vulnerable informal workers in Nigeria. Data were collected from secondary sources while rapid case studies were conducted with ten informal workers in Lagos and Ibadan. Afterwards, data were contextually analysed.

Economically vulnerable informal workers in Nigeria have contextually interpreted COVID-19 as an elite disease, imported into Nigeria by the wealthy. In addition, the mass population views COVID-19 containment measures such as lockdowns, movement restrictions and stay-at-home orders as elitist policies, which are aimed at protecting the wealthy and frustrating the poor and economically vulnerable who live on the fringes of poverty. Many informal workers have slipped below the poverty line while struggling to supply livelihood needs, as they were unable to earn daily income and cannot access palliatives. Consequently, they are of the opinion that “Hunger Virus is deadlier than Corona Virus”.

This paper is a contextual reflection on the plight of economically vulnerable informal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and movement restrictions in Nigeria. It presents pandemic interpretationism as an epistemological guide and reflectively examines the poverty impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian informal sector via contextual analyses of secondary data and rapid case studies. The paper uncovers various COVID-19 livelihood experiences and the responses of the informal workers; furthermore, it provides policy recommendations.

Information and communication technology (ICT) stands out as a major indicator and driver of the modern age. It catalytically advances globalization processes across professions, disciplines and agencies across international boundaries. In spite of the widespread utilization of ICT, Nigeria in particular and Africa in general lag behind in the ICT revolution. Striving to modernise and develop, though, Nigeria is rather dependent on the developed world for ICT access and utilization. Nigeria accesses ICT, indeed a great volume of the access rather comes through the second‐hand market. The study aims to integrate theoretical orientations of symbolism and rationalism to empirically explain second‐hand ICT utilization in Nigeria.

Data were collected through 30 in‐depth interviews (IDIs) and six focus group discussions (FGDs) among sellers and consumers of imported second‐hand ICT at Abeokuta, Ibadan and Lagos cities in Nigeria. The data was collected between July and November 2010. The research is an extract from a larger study on “The dynamics of the Tokunbo phenomenon and second‐hand economy in South‐Western Nigeria”.

The paper concludes that as much as imported second‐hand ICT satisfies consumer modernity and development needs, it swells up Nigeria's e‐waste. The bulk of the used ICT exported into Nigeria are non‐usable scrap, while those that are functional or usable are at the tail end of their life cycles. By symbolically rationalizing imported second‐hand ICT utilization, the Nigerian population simply pays for the evacuation of e‐waste from producing countries of the developed world to Nigeria. Nigeria is yet to develop a wholesome policy to address second‐hand ICT import and grapple with e‐waste challenge. The economic and health costs of imported e‐waste are on Nigeria and Nigerians.

The primary focus of the paper is on second‐hand ICT utilization in Nigeria. The paper empirically discusses the utilization of second‐hand ICT from the perspective of symbolic‐rationality of modernity and development practice.