In a few months of COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people were hit by the deadly virus which claimed a lot of lives worldwide, including Nigeria. The Federal Government declared total lockdown of outdoor economic activities, institutions, ceremonies, religious activities and gave a stay at home order to prevent the spread of the deadly virus in the country. This declaration made life difficult for the masses. The livelihood of Nigerians appeared to have been adversely affected by the pandemic. This seemed to make it very hard for people to improve their economic powers. The populace faced challenges in coping with the pandemic in the 36 States of the country. Hence, this paper looked at the concept of COVID-19 pandemic; household livelihoods; challenges from the pandemic; impact of COVID-19 on Girls and Women; copping strategies for the effects of the pandemic. The theory underpinning this study is the motivational instinct theory of survival. The researcher employed secondary data from existing literature from dailies, journals, libraries and text books to source information. The study discovered that the livelihood of people was adversely affected by the circumstances of the pandemic as a result of the hardship caused by government’s restrictions. Several households relied heavily on government cash relief and food handouts for survival. It was recommended that there should be more intervention strategies for resilience against such shocks in future. Actions should be taken to limit more risk, struggling of households and their livelihoods in urban and rural areas of the country.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Coping, Livelihood, Strategies., households
