The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, University of Maryland, and Meta conducted the Pandemic Recovery Survey, revealing that 73.9% of Nigerians are happy with their lives, and 91.4% reported good, very good, or excellent health.

This global survey, spanning 20 countries, utilized geographic distribution and the Facebook Active User Base for its findings.

Participating nations included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.

Utilizing a stratified random sampling technique on Facebook, information was collected via the Qualtrics platform. The survey, available in 15 languages, was disseminated to users across 21 countries.

To enhance representativeness, Meta and the University of Maryland computed survey weights, aiding in addressing sampling bias. Conducted between March and May 2023, the survey involved over 621,000 individuals aged 18 and above. Notably, 27,358 respondents participated in Nigeria.

Regarding food insecurity, 50.9% of respondents in Nigeria sometimes or often lack sufficient food due to financial constraints.

Additionally, 57.6% of individuals with health conditions in Nigeria couldn’t access care in the past six months, primarily due to financial limitations. Notably, the survey highlighted a predominant barrier to receiving care as the inability to pay.

Furthermore, vaccine confidence in Nigeria lagged behind the global average, with only 22.4% of adults expressing belief in the safety, effectiveness, importance for children and adults, and compatibility with personal beliefs of vaccines.

In Nigeria, the primary obstacle to vaccine uptake was a shortage of vaccines. For parents unwilling to vaccinate their children, the most prevalent concern, expressed by 47.8%, was apprehension about potential side effects.

Moreover, the survey revealed that among individuals aged 5–25 who attended school before the COVID-19 pandemic, 17.7% were no longer in school at the time of the survey. Reasons for discontinuing school included having already graduated (43.2%) and financial constraints preventing school attendance (24.7%).

In Nigeria, economic security posed a substantial concern, as 47.5% reported a current household income lower than pre-COVID-19 levels. Trust in international health organizations was notably high, with 72.6% of respondents expressing confidence in them.

Conversely, the police were regarded as the least trustworthy organization, with 34.8% stating they were not trustworthy according to survey respondents.

The institution stated “These findings provide a valuable snapshot of the challenges faced by Nigeria in terms of public health, economic security, and trust in institutions.

“Policymakers can use this information to address these issues, such as improving access to health care, increasing vaccine confidence through better information dissemination, supporting education, and tackling economic and food insecurity.”