COVID 19: FLATTENING THE CURVE IN NIGERIA THROUGH SOCIAL MARKETING

Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 1 COVID 19: FLATTENING THE CURVE IN NIGERIA THROUGH SOCIAL MARKETING John Moses Maikomo Department of Political Science and International Relations Taraba State University Jalingo Email: [email protected] & Idi Shadrach Department of Mass Communication Taraba State University Jalingo [email protected] Abstract Covid 19 is currently a major global health challenge that had led to the death of millions of people and have placed severe social, emotional and economic burden on people and there is currently no cure for virus while Vaccine are just emerging. Therefore, prevention through observing the non-pharmaceutical safety guidelines remains the best approach to fight the virus. Nigeria is among the countries with high cases of Covid 19 in Africa yet many Nigerians are not complying with the safety protocols despite several enlightenment efforts by the Government. Thus, there is a need for more viable behaviour change strategy. This paper examines the how Social Marketing can be used to encourage Nigerians adopt Covid 19 safety guidelines. The paper is anchored on Social Exchange Theory. The research design used is the critical literature research. It provides practical insights on how marketing mix, comprising 5Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion and Policy) could be applied in addressing the rising cases of Covid 19 in the country. The paper concludes that, rather than depending on politicians and medical personnel in the fight against the pandemic, experts in social marketing should be engaged in the designing and implementation of behaviour change activities needed to encourage Nigerians adopt the new normal. Keywords: Covid 19, flattening, Curve, Nigeria, Social Marketing Introduction Historically, humanity has seen several outbreaks of diseases. However, some outbreaks are classified as pandemic due to their widespread and destructive implications; such pandemics remain fresh in the annals of human history. One of such outbreaks of recent time is the novel corona virus (Covid 19). The virus broke out from China in December 2019 since then it rapidly spread to the whole world, claiming millions of lives and having an unprecedented implication on socio economic and political stability of nations (Ajisegiri, Odusanya & Joshi, 2020). The early news of the outbreak of the virus caused fear and confusion in the global community, forcing countries to closed their borders and many including Nigeria locked down, thus, citizens were forced to stay indoors, markets were closed down, conventional educational activities, sports, political engagement, religious gatherings among other major activities were suspended for several months while some migrated to virtual space which has its unique challenges and limitations. Surely, Covid 19 has introduced a new bahvioural pattern often known as “new normal” that humanity must adapt to survive until established cure is found. Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 2 As the world learns to adjust to the “new normal” and the medical science experts continued to search for solutions, the virus is rampaging. At the time of this report, 117, 132,788 confirmed cases of Covid 19 were recorded globally, including 2,600,839 deaths (WHO Coronovirus Dashboard, 10th March, 2021). The African continent in particular has recorded 3, 982,844 cases with death toll of 106,402 (Africa Center for Disease Control, 2021) while Nigeria has 159,252 confirmed cases with death fatalities of 1,988 (NCDC, 10th, March, 2021). At the time of this report, Covid 19 still has no cure but vaccines are emerging. However, the vaccines are not adequately accessible to Nigerian government to be able to vaccinate all the citizens. Therefore, government through the Presidential Task Force, NCDC and other institutions have continued to prioritize the adoption of the non-pharmaceutical precautionary measures such as: social distancing, wearing of face mask, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer, washing of hands frequently with soap and running water among others as means to reduce the spread of the virus in the country. To ensure compliance to the aforementioned safety protocols, several efforts including mass media campaigns were carried out and on Tuesday, January 26, President Muhamadu Buhari signed the Corona virus Disease Health Protection Regulations 2021 to provide legal framework for enforcing the adoption of the safety protocols among Nigerians. However, the efforts are not yielding needed result, as most Nigerians move and carry out their daily activities without observing Covid 19 safety regulations. The situation is complicated by conspiracy theories and misinformation among many Nigerians that the virus does not even exists (Lucas, Tordue, Jibril, Sambo & Bako, 2020). Seeing the growing number of cases and the presence of new and more deadly strain of the virus in the world, it is necessary that a viable behaviour change intervention strategies be adopted to persuade Nigerians to adhere to safety protocols. One of such viable strategies for health intervention utilized by renown Global Health bodies like the World Health Organization and which can be useful in the campaign against Covid 19 in Nigeria is the Social Marketing. Social marketing is based on the premise that conventional commercial marketing techniques can be used to increase the people’s acceptability of a healthy behaviour, cause or practice (Cheng, Kotler & Lee, 2011; Oti, Eze & Odigbo, 2016; Firestone, Rowe, Modi & Sievers, 2017). A plethora of studies established the effectiveness social marketing on health outcomes around the world; for example, Terris-Prestholt and Windmeijer (20016) found that social marketing stimulated demand for male and female condom use in 52 countries investigated. Oti, Eze and Odigbo (2016) established that Social marketing was effective for reducing the social ostracization of people living with HIV (PLIs) by their families in Cross River State, Nigeria. Similarly, Thompson, Haley, Oster-Aaland, Stastny and Crawford (2012) found social marketing campaign on College students’ alcohol-related beliefs and behaviour in Midwestern University Public research University, United States had positively impacted the students to reflect on their alcohol consumption and beliefs. Also, Ariadne, David and Martin (2014) found that social marketing can help to tackle the severe nutritional related problems in Greece while. Sharif, Ibrahim, Ndaghu and Yole (2018) established that social marketing can address the lingering problems of road transport accident resulting from poor attitude of motorists in Nigeria. It is evident that social marketing have attracted attention of several studies, and the application of social marketing strategy on various health interventions such as protective sex, health eating, family planning, responsible alcohol consumption and safe driving etc significantly promote healthy behaviour change. However, the existing studies on social marketing did not extend to issue of Covid 19 despite the popularity of the infectious virus and Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 3 the implication the virus exerts on humanity for over one year now. This paper therefore explains how social marketing can be applied in addressing the rising cases of Covid 19 in Nigeria. Understanding Social Marketing The term social marketing was first coined by marketing scholars Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman in 1971 when they realized that the same marketing principles that were being used to sell products to consumers could be used to “sell” ideas, attitudes and behaviours to members of the society (Adirika, Ebue & Nnolim, 1999; Nanda, 2013). Kotler and Zaltman (1971) thus, defined the Social marketing as the design, implementation, and control of programs calculated to influence the acceptability of social ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution, and marketing research. Subsequently, other scholars came up with various definitions social marketing. Andreasen (1995) states that, Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing technologies to the analysis, planning, execution and evaluation of programs designed to influence the voluntary behaviour of target audiences in order to improve their personal welfare and that of society. Similarly, French, Blair-Stevens, McVey and Merritt (2010) defines Social Marketing as the act of designing, implementing and controlling programs meant to influence the acceptability of social ideas. According to National Social Marketing Centre (2006) Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing alongside other concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioural goals, for social or public good. Grier and Bryant (2005) concurs that Social marketing is a consumer-centered, research driven approach to promote voluntary behavior change. One generic idea that runs through all the various definitions of social marketing is that it is a principle that advocates for the applications of conventional marketing strategies to achieve socially desirable goals, rather than commercial profit goal. MacFadyen, Stead and Hastings, 2003) concur that Social marketing differs from commercial marketing in that the goal is to improve individual and societal wellbeing rather than to increase profitability. Therefore, the primary goal of every social marketing campaign is to influence members of the society to accept a new behavior, reject a potential risky behavior, modify a current behavior, or abandon an old behavior (Kotler, Lee & Roberto, 2002). Historically, social marketing originated from United States in the 1940s to intervene in the public concerns such as tobacco smoking, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, illicit drugs abuse consumption. Others include issue of obesity, breastfeeding, healthy diet intake and injury preventions and many more (Chin & Mansori, 2018). Today social marketing is adopted across the world with both local and international interventions agencies using the approach to intervene in health challenges facing communities. Covid 19: An Overview Covid-19 is a new member of the corona viruses discovered in the year 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China (WHO, 2020). WHO further explained that, Corona viruses are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The virus is highly contagious; it spreads from person to person through contact with droplet of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can also be transmitted when humans have contact with hands and surfaces that contains the virus (WHO, 2020, Africa CDC, 2021). The symptoms of Covid 19 include; fever, cough and tiredness. Early symptoms can include loss of taste or smell. Other symptoms can include shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing, muscle aches, chills, and sore throats, Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 4 running nose, headache, chest pain and pink eye (NCDC, 2020). The severity of the symptoms could range from very mild to severe depending on the patient’s age and previous health condition. Older persons and those with underlying health challenges such as those with cancer, chronic respiratory infections, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are more likely to experience severe illness and death due to COVID-19 (NCDC, 2020). As of the time of this report Covid 19 has no specialized treatment or medication but few vaccines are gradually been introduced. The first case of Covid 19 in Nigeria was confirmed on 27 February 2020 from a 44-year old man, an Italian citizen who returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos. Since then the virus continued to spread across all the thirty six (36) states and the Federal Capital Abuja with Lagos state serving as the epicenter (NCDC, 2021). As vaccine roll out continued to get momentum around the world, on 2nd March, 2021, Nigeria received her first supply of vaccine (Oxford Astrazeneca) and it is expected that before March 2022 about 70% of Nigerians would be vaccinated against Covid 19 (Guardian Newspaper, 28th Janaury, 2021). However, many persons expressed skepticism regarding the safety and sincerity of the vaccines. This indicates a potential resistance on the side of many Nigerians to receive the free vaccine even when it becomes available. Theoretical Framework This paper is anchored on social exchange theory. The theory originated from the early works of Sociologist George Homans in 1958. George Homans argues that, in an interpersonal relationship building, individuals weigh potential benefits and risks of the relationship before taken a decision to be involve or not. He clearly explained that when the risk of engaging in certain relationship outweighs the reward, people are more likely to abandon or reject the relationship (Homans, 1958). Critics of the Social Exchange theory argue the theory cannot be apply to all exchanges because of restrictions created by roles and social structures as such some actions and relationships are taken or build due to ones roles in the society (Redmond, 2015). Despite such criticism and the fact that the theory is primarily sociological, it has gradually become a useful framework in the marketing literature and viz-a-viz social marketing considering the fact that both are based on building a relationship resulting from give-and-take approach between the marketer (commercial and social) and the targets. According to Tarver and Haring (1988), the essence of marketing is an exchange intended to satisfy human wants and needs. In traditional, before the target customers patronize certain goods or service, they tend to ensure that there is benefit of value to get for their money. In the same sense, Social marketing also seeks to sell certain social behavioural or ideas to the “customers” (members of the society) and the degree the targets will “buy” (adopt) the new behaviour is determine by their conviction of the degree of the benefits of the protection the would get. Where the new behaviour is costlier than the health benefits, the target are likely to reject the new behaviour. The relevance of the social exchange theory to this paper lies in the fact that social marketing could provide government and other agencies involved in the campaign against Covid 19, the ideas to effectively communicate to target audience high benefits of adopting Covid 19 precautionary measures such as regular washing of hand with running water and use of Face mask among others as more rewarding than contacting and curing the virus. Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 5 Research Method The paper adopts integrative literature review research design also known as critical review approach. It is a qualitative method of research with the aim to assess, critique, and synthesize the literature on a research topic in a way that enables new theoretical frameworks and perspectives to emerged (Torraco, 2005). The research design is useful because as Snyder (2019) observed, by integrating findings and perspectives from many empirical findings, a critical literature review as a research design can address research questions with a power that no single study has. Apt to the observation above, the researchers critically examined research articles, books, and other published texts from marketing, social marketing, Covid 19 and health interventions to provide useful insights that can help toward building an effective Covid 19 social marketing model that for managing the virus in the country. Discussion Marketing encompasses various activities. However, one framework of marketing that received significant attention in the marketing literature and which serve as the primary framework that can be used to define a social marketing campaign is the Kotler and Zaltman’s marketing principle of 4Ps, (product, price, place and promotion). The paper also adopted another “P” known as policy, as advocated by Lucas and Suggs (2010). The paper is based on a model given below: Fig 1: Covid 19 Social Marketing Model Source: Authors Compilation SOCIAL MARKETING POLICY: Empower campaign team and security with skills, resources and legal service to enforce the protocols PROMOTION: Create appealing campaign messages and transmit to specific audiences using multimedia channels. PLACE: Take campaign messages and supporting services to strategic places e.g. schools, markets etc. PRICE: Provide free or subsidized Covid-19 supporting products and services. PRODUCT: Make Covid-19 safety protocols appealing and provide support services. REDUCTION IN CASES OR RISKS ADOPTION OF SAFETY BEHAVIOUR (PROTOCOLS) Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 6 The model is discussed thus: Product Strategy: In conventional marketing, the product is typically conceived as something tangible that can be exchanged with a target market (Lefebvre & Flora, 1988). It can also be services which a marketer offers to the target customers with the aim to satisfy certain need or want of the targets. However, in social marketing the product is the desired behavior and the associated benefits which the government or campaigner communicates to the targets (French, Blair-Stevens, Dominic & Rowena). Cheng, Kotler and Lee (2011) further buttressed that the product of social marketing includes three parts; core product, actual product and augmented product, the core product includes the benefits that the target members of the public will experience in return for adopting the behavior that is promoted. In the case of Covid, the core product is safety of lives. The actual product is the behavior that the Social Marketer or campaign desired to see in the targets, in relation to Covid 19, it refers to adoption precautionary measures (e.g use of facemask etc) the members of the public need to adhere to stay safe amidst the pandemic, The augmented product refers to the things and/or services that will be promoted and offered the target audience. This could (provision of Facemask, hand sanitizers etc). The major challenge before the social marker or agencies is how to make the social product become "tangibles" appealing to the target audience (Kotler & Zaltman, 1971). Like in traditional marketing, products must be carefully designed to appeal to the needs and desire of the target before patronage takes place, also, the social marketers of Covid 19 Nigeria such the Presidential Task Force on Covid 19, NCDC, Ministry of Health and Information must carefully defined and consistent provide needed information and persuasion to encourage Nigerians in the nooks and crannies to accept the new behavioural pattern occasioned by Covid 19 as the most valid path to safety. Communicating these new behaviours most recognized the audience demographic and psychographic variables such as languages, age, beliefs, level of education among others. Though the safety guidelines are the same, segmenting the audience and packaging the safety ideas to appeal to specific group is necessary in helping the Nigerians “buy” them (i.e adopt the safety behaviours) in order to curtailing the rising cases of the virus in the country. Price Strategy: Price in traditional marketing is the value or amount of money that the targets give in exchange for a product or services. However in social marketing, price is beyond the monetary aspect to include the financial or money costs, time costs, energy costs, cultural cost and emotional costs, the target audience pay toward adopting or maintaining certain behaviour (Kotler & Zaltman, 1971). In the fight against Covid 19, the price Nigerians are expected to pay include: buying of facemask, sanitizers, hand washing facilities, staying away from love ones and businesses (social distancing) among others. The above prices seem costlier for many Nigerians. For example, many Nigerians could not afford to buy facemask and sanitizers due to financial challenges; many are reluctant to go for testing and are unwilling to stay in isolation centers until they well believe that it will rob them of their time to pursue their normal businesses or work necessary to survive. Similarly, Lockdown has so far proven to be more risky as it exacerbated other problems like hunger and unemployment with their unique implications as exemplified in the previous phenomenon of looting of warehouse recorded across the nation. According to Brisibe, Ordinioha and Gbeneol (2015) the success of Social marketing campaign is attainable when both the social marketer and the target are satisfied with the outcome of the programme. Thus, Covid 19 campaigners and the government of Nigerian need adopt approaches that would encourage adopting safety guidelines without adding more Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 7 hardships on the citizens. To reduce the cost and encourage Nigerians to adopt Covid 19 safety protocols, government and partners should provide free or subsidized the prices of safety equipment such as facemask, hand sanitizers, as well as provide some freebies among others. Furthermore, there is also need for reduction in social/utility bills resulting from the outbreak of Covid 19. Though, the Federal Government through its various intervention programmes like survival fund made some efforts to cushion the effect of Covid 19 on the masses, the efforts have made little impact in encouraging Nigerians to pay the price of adopting Covid 19 protocols. Practically, government needs to intervene in sectors like the commercial transportation because Covid 19 safety protocols demands limited number of passengers in commercial vehicles, a phenomenon that skyrocketed transport fare and prices of goods like food stuff in the country forcing Nigerians to neglect the safety protocols in search of succor. Place Strategy: In traditional marketing, the place refers to the point, location or platform where the target can access or buy the product or service marketed while in social marketing, the ‘place’ refers to the channels by which behaviour change is promoted, and the places in which the targets can obtain and receive related actual objects and service that will support and encouraged the adoption of needed behaviour (Cheng, Kotler & Lee, 2011). In social marketing, “place” is very important because target might be willing to adopt the new bahaviour but may be limited if they cannot access needed information, product and services to support them. For instance, Lee and Kotler (2009) observed that one major limitation toward the adoption of Family Planning among women in most rural areas of the world is hinge in the inability of the women to easily access family planning information and services despite their willingness. In the other hand, India, family planning campaign aimed to make condom a normal household staple for many families was said to have recorded significant success in the 1960s because the campaigners made available free of charge condoms at government's designated outlets in rural and urban areas (Chandy, Balakrishman, Kantawalla, Mohan, Sen, Gupta, & Srivastva (1965). It can be deduced from above that, the success of the government and her agencies to flatten the curve of Covid 19 in the country also depends in the ability of the government to provide points where Nigerians in every Local Government Area can easily access information, services and products that would support and encourage the adoption of Covid 19 safety guidelines. In this light, government should provide constant running water, installed Alcoholbased hand-rub dispensers in strategic locations; provide facemask among others in public places such as schools and hospitals. The Government can also partner with certain grocery, malls, and pharmaceutical shops to provide these augmented products (facemask, hand sanitizers etc) at a very subsidized rate to enable easy access. Furthermore, primary health centers should be equipped with trained personnel and gadgets to provide Covid 19 education, counseling, testing and even treatment in each Local Government Areas. Currently, it is believed that the testing capacity of Nigerian is still low, this might not be far from the fact that most testing centers in the country are domiciled in urban areas despite the fact that significant number of Nigerians are living in the rural areas, hence, cannot access testing or any medical attention even when they noticed the symptoms of the virus. Promotion Strategy: Promotion in this context means communication, it is the use of communication channels and strategies to inform and persuade targets to buy a product, service or behaviour. The success of communication depends on the ability of the social marketer to provide creative and useful content that clearly provides guides for the targets to take in order to stay safe. However, communication scholars (e.g Okunna & Omenugha, 2012; Aliede, 2012), Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 8 Sambe, 2016 etc) established that communication in behaviour change campaign (social marketing) is often faced with challenges of resistance resulting from cultural influence, lack of trust in the sender, information overload as a result of multiplicity of sources especially in this era of social media among other challenges. Therefore the success of any behaviour change campaign including the campaign against Covid 19 depends in the ability of the campaigners to break all forms of resistance. Breaking resistance in the current campaign against Covid 19 requires that the campaigners understood the beliefs of various groups in the country, their language, communication channels accessible to them among others. The dominant use of conventional mass media (radio, television, newspaper, billboard, handbills and posters) and English Language as well as the major tribes (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) in the campaign has limited reach because many Nigerians do not access these channels and have very limited literacy level to comprehend content in English Language rather depend on their unique languages which have been adequate in facilitating interaction and development in their localities from time immemorial. In this regard, government and Covid 19 campaigners should improve the integration of other non-conventional communication channels like the oral-media or traditional channels. Lucas, Tordue, Jibril, Sambo and Istifanus (2020) argued that the use of traditional communication system could serve as an efficient strategy to combat Covid 19 pandemic in Nigeria. This according to them is based on the premised that traditional communication system is rooted in the people’s cultures and ways of life and utilizes local resources and talents, thereby making content transmitted through the system more accessible and believable among rural people. Scholars (Lucas et al, 2020; Chiakaan & Oruonye, 2020 etc ) identified some forms of traditional communication system that can be adopted to compliments the conventional mass media channels in promoting behaviour change messages about Covid 19, to as, use of town criers, village/market square, festivals and ceremonies as well as traditional institutions among others. Similarly, Shadrach (2019) asserts that Nigerians attach high premium to their religious institutions and leaders such as the mosques and churches, Imams and Pastors, thus, Covid 19 campaigners should intensified the used of these institutions to spread the message of Covid 19. Sadly, the many clerics in Nigeria still do not believe that Covid 19 exist, a situation that has continue to undermined the campaign against the virus. Therefore, Government at all level must continually and sincerely interface with clerics through various bodies like the Christian Association of Nigeria and Muslim council until the virus is defeated. Policy Strategy: This fifth P stands for policy support or implementation. This part of the mix is not in the conventional mix but could serve as important element of social campaign like Covid 19. Lucas and Suggs (2010) opined that social marketers should consider the integration of policy component in interventions in order to provide support toward ensuring compliance to the new behaviour or idea sold out to the targets. This above clearly indicates that, the success of Covid 19 campaign in Nigeria lies in the effective implementation of the various policies and strategies designed by government and stakeholders. Sadly, Nigeria in general sense is lacking in the aspect of effective implementation policies. It is often said that the country is not short of ideas and policies that can stimulate development but the implementation has been the major problem. For instance, several months after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Corona virus Disease Health Protection Regulations 2021, implementation has been difficult in almost all parts of the nation. Only few cases of enforcement and execution of defaulters were recorded across the nation. Self motivation to adopt the regulations is diminishing in every passing of the day among Nigerians. Journal of Contemporary Social Research Vol. 5. No.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17931414 9 This implies the need for effective implementation and monitoring/evaluation mechanism at all level that would constantly enforce, monitor and evaluate success and challenges short at interval of time and report to lead team at the center until the virus is over. Similarly, Covid teams at all levels and security agencies must be empowered with requisite skills, resources and legislations to carry out their responsibilities of enforcing the safety protocols. Places like hospitals, schools, motor parks, churches, mosques should have functional enforcement team or task force that would ensure effective implementation of Covid 19 protocols until the virus is totally eliminated in the country. Conclusion and Recommendation For over a year now, Covid 19 is still a monumental health problem killing people and draining financial resources of many nations including Nigeria as well as putting embargo on economic, social and cultural life of citizens. The infectious virus led to “new normal” - new behavioural patterns (e.g keeping of social distancing, use of facemask etc) that need to be adopted as necessary precautionary measures to safeguard lives since up till this point the infectious disease does not have established medication and vaccines are just recently been developed amidst controversies about their efficacy and availability to the majority of the people in developing nations particularly Nigeria. Therefore, the adopting the new normal is a sine-qua non to fighting the virus in Nigeria. However, behaviour change never occurs on a platter of goal but requires some strategic efforts. This paper critically examined the strategic application of social marketing strategy as a viable approach to encouraging the adoption of Covid 19 safety guidelines in Nigeria. It argued that effective integration of an expanded marketing Mix consisting of components which include: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Policy would make possible a successful Covid 19 campaign in the country. However, such is possible if the government at all levels engaged the services of experts in social marketing in the Covid 19 teams such as the presidential Task Force. This is necessary because so far, depending only on front line health professionals and politicians alone has only yielded little result and has endangered the lives of many front line workers with many paying the ultimate price with their lives. References Adirika, E. O.; Ebue, B. C. & Nnolim, D. A. (1997), Principles and practices of marketing. Enugu: John Jacobs Classic Publishers. Africa Center for Disease Control. http://africacdc.org/covid-19/ Ajisegiri WS, Odusanya O.O & Joshi R. (2014). COVID-19 Outbreak situation in Nigeria and the need for effective engagement of community health workers for epidemic response, Globa Biosecurity, 1(4). Akinyemi, K.O., Fakorede, C.O., Anjorin, A.A.A., Abegunrin, R.O., Adunmo, O., Ajoseh, S.O. & Akinkunmi, F.M. (2020) Intrigues and cAssociated with COVID-19 pandemics in Nigeria. Health, 12, 954-971. https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2020.128072 Aliede, E.J. (2012). An Assessment of the application and role of communication in the Management of Labour and Federal Government Face-off Over the Removal of Fuel Subsidy’’. Journal of Contemporary Communication, 1(1); 25. Andreasen A. (1995). Marketing social change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Ariadne, B.K. David, R. &Martin, C. (2014). Social Marketing and healthy eating: Findings from young people in Greece, International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 11, 161-180.