Pivotal to human development and the sustainable development goals is food security, which remains of substantial concern globally and in Nigeria, particularly during the COVID‐19 pandemic despite various palliatives and intervention initiatives launched to improve household welfare. This study examined the food security status of households during the pandemic and investigated its determinants using the COVID‐19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (COVID‐19 NLPS). In analysing the data, descriptive statistics, bivariate as well as multivariate analysis were employed. Findings from the descriptive statistics showed that only 12% of the households were food secure, 5% were mildly food insecure, 24.5% were moderately food insecure and over half of the households (58.5%) experienced severe food insecurity. The result from the ordered probit regression identified socioeconomic variables (education, income and wealth status) as the main determinants of food security during the pandemic. This study indicates that over two‐thirds of households were threatened by food insecurity in Nigeria. The finding indicates the gross inadequacy of government palliative support and distribution. Thus, regarding policy implication, interventions and palliatives should be well planned and consistent with household size and needs.

Background: Public health research is shifting focus to the role of socioeconomic indicators in the promotion of health. As such an understanding of the roles that socio-economic factors play in improving health and health-seeking behaviour is important for public health policy. This is because the share of resources devoted to different policy options should depend on their relative effectiveness.

The findings indicate home use of drugs that were not prescribed by health professionals. There is therefore a strong need to give appropriate education and counselling to mothers/care givers and medicine vendors on early detection and proper home management of febrile illnesses.

The study examines the long run relationship between public health expenditure and under-five mortality rate in 15 West African countries over the period of 1991-2015 with the use of panel fully modified least square (FMOLS). The empirical analysis is made up of both aggregate and disaggregated model. Based on the findings, long run relationship between per capita health expenditure and under-five mortality rate is confirmed. Further evidence indicates that public health expenditure has a significant impact on the rate of under-five mortality. Thus, it is revealed that an increase in health expenditure among West African countries would lead to a drastic reduction in infant mortality rate in the region. Furthermore, it is asserted that institutional quality, female literacy rate and immunization are central for reducing under-five mortality rate in the region. Hence, it is suggested that the quality of institutions, female literacy rate and immunizations which are often neglected in the literature should be accorded considerable priority in policy formulations. Also, governments of West African countries should increase the rate of health expenditure in their respective countries. Funding: This study received no specific financial support Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Acknowledgement: Both authors are very grateful for the comments of anonymous referees, which have significantly enhanced the quality of the paper. We specially thank the editorial team of the journal for their exceptional support and guide. The usual disclaimer applies and views are solely expressed by the authors.

Based on the controversy surrounding the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow from one country to another and the suggestion that inflow of FDI might be a result of countries’ locations, this study therefore revisits the determinants of FDI and economic growth by testing for the roles of country’s location in the determination of the inflow of FDI to Nigeria. Unlike other studies, this study finds that countries’ locations do not play any significant role in determining FDI inflow to Nigeria. The study, therefore, employs fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) to examine the determinants of FDI in Nigeria. The FMOLS results show that FDI, manufacturing sector, tax revenue, financial development, health expenditure, net trade and human capital have a positive relationship with income growth. These results were statistically significant except for tax revenue, net trade and human capital. These results support the argument that these variables are important determinants of economic growth. The article also finds a negative and statistically significant relationship among FDI, income growth, import and capital formation. These results are in conformity with economic theory in the sense that import of goods and services constitutes a leakage in the economy. Negative impact of capital formation and security could be associated with the prevailing high level of corruption, sharing of security votes and misappropriation of funds among the public officials in Nigeria. JEL Codes: F23, F26, F21, H24