The glamorous Lagos party scene means she's usually kept busy - but these dresses are unlikely to ever get to be collected due to Nigeria's lockdown.

Like millions in Africa, Adepoju works in the informal sector, which accounts for more than 85% of employment across the entire continent and will be largely bypassed by meager economic support measures that cash-strapped governments are rolling out.

(SOUNDBITE) (Yoruba) TAILOR, KEMI ADEPOJU, SAYING:

"The government should help us to end this so that people can have their parties, it is only when people organize parties that we can get money to eat. We have nothing to sell, we are tailors, government should help us."

Nigeria's government says it has begun making cash transfers to the country's poorest households, but many hawkers and other informal traders do not have bank or mobile money accounts to pay into even if they were eligible.

But Abuja food vendor Tijani Bilikisu is not interested in the cash transfers.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) FOOD VENDOR, TIJANI BILIKISU, SAYING:

"If the lock-down should take longer than it is supposed to you know people won't have money to purchase food again, so everything they will be taking will be on credit and it will affect us a lot, so my prayer is that the coronavirus, the COVID-19 should just come to an end before the two weeks break that has been given to everybody, so that everybody will go back to their normal lives and work as they used to."

The coronavirus crisis has piled more pressure on the Nigerian government's finances at a time when it was already struggling thanks to a slump in the price of oil.