Modeling the Political Economy and Multidimensional Factors of COVID-19 Cases in Nigeria

Both the clinical and epidemiological significance attached to COVID-19 cases by a small, but growing literature on coronavirus are not in any way undermined by the relevance of political economy and multidimensional impacts of other factors on the virus, particularly from country specific stance. In light of the stark reality, this study unravels the political economy and multidimensional factors of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria using the daily data spanning 27th of February through 26th of May, 2020. This paper deploys a variety of count data estimators to estimate the effects of political economy and ethno-religious factors on COVID-19 cases in Nigeria. The parameter estimates reveal that the odds of the Hausa ethnic group in human-to-human transmission of the virus, to be in the “Certain Zero” group is relatively less as compared to other ethnic groups in the country. A plausible reason, particularly for the vulnerable group can be attributed, in part, to their low levels of educational attainment as well as their staunch religious belief with respect to the act of soul taking as being the exclusive property of the creator than the created. Thus, addressing ethno-religious concerns together with socioeconomic factors remain the formidable mitigation policy choices to combating the scourge of the global virus of COVID-19.