Impact of Covid 19 – Lockdown on Private Schools in Nigeria: Evidence in FCT
Abdul K. I. Zubair (PhD)

Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is the most widely discussed health phenomenon in recent history. This global pandemic has spread almost all countries and continents of the world. The pandemic has undoubtedly impacted on global economic growth leading to review of the global outlook by most rating agencies. The policy makers were confronted with decision dilemma of either saving lives or continue the pursuit of political and economic gains. The bitter bill of shutting down businesses, schools inclusive, crystalizes the dilemma. These interruptions will not just be a short-term issue, but can also have long-term consequences for the affected stakeholders. School lockdown disruptions to daily routine affects psychological wellbeing, academic, education approaches and finance models. The degree of impact on stakeholders varies. Covid19 is novel with little or no evidence on its impact hence the need to investigate the phenomenon. A total of 291 participants located in the 5 local government areas were involved in the survey. The survey data was tested for validity, reliability and value. Interview complimented the quantitative data. Even though a short period of schooling lockdown, the effect provides a guide to reasonably peep into likely possible outcomes as an extremely rough measure of the impact of the current school closures. The real quantitative impact will be better analysed post lockdown and covid19 era. This paper adopts regression research design in the analysis, specifically, smart PLS modelling was used. The study has implications on students, parents, leadership of schools, and operators of businesses on campus. The study further provides concept deployment, evidence from Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria and useful addition to theory, literature and practice. The study found that 10 of the 12 hypotheses were supported and 2 unsupported. In addition, change oriented leadership moderated the relationships. The underpinning theory, change oriented leadership, the methodology, and implications of quantitative and qualitative data were discussed. The paper concludes that there is a significant positive relationship between change oriented leadership and the independent variable thereby confirming the model theorised. Also the compliments of interview result reinforced the postulation. In conclusion, the present study has added valuable theoretical, practically and methodologically to the growing body of knowledge in the field of social sciences and management.

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