Social exclusion persists despite FG’s initiatives

Social exclusion has remained a concern despite Nigeria’s approach to addressing the same, according to a new report by the FSDH Research.

The report, titled ‘Nigeria’s Macroeconomic Report: Why social inclusion matters for development’, says Nigeria needs to develop and implement a comprehensive national social inclusion strategy (NSIS) that prioritises social welfare of its citizens.

According to the report, Nigeria’s approach to addressing social exclusion has mainly revolved around the following areas: implementation of empowerment programmes and intervention funds for key sectors, direct cash transfers and school feeding initiatives, provision of social infrastructure, and passage of policies and legislation to support inclusion.

Over the years, the Nigerian government has implemented initiatives such as the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SURE-P), N-Power, YouWin, Government Enterprise Empowerment Program (GEEP) as well as intervention funds for sectors such as agriculture, entertainment, among others.

Read also: Hakeem Fahm to address TestNigeria Conference 1.0 on software quality assurance

Since 2016/2017, the Federal Government, working with state governments have implemented conditional cash transfers to the poor and vulnerable across the country. Similarly, meals are being provided for primary school pupils to encourage enrolment and retention.

In 2021, the Federal Government designed the revised National Social Protection Policy (NSPP) which provides a framework for promoting social justice, equity and inclusive growth. The signing of the Not Too Young to run bill into law in 2018 created the platform for young individuals to contest for public offices.

“In general, the revised National Social Protection Policy argues that the social protection interventions aim to address multidimensional and crosscutting issues as well as temporary and structural deprivations, shocks and vulnerabilities among Nigerians,” the report stated.

However, FSDH research has provided reasons why despite these comprehensive plans and initiatives, exclusion persists in Nigeria.

Some of the reasons include limited scope and scale of social programmes, limited cooperation among government agencies and across different levels of government, programmes, initiatives and agendas are often not in sync with existing national and thematic plans and are not viewed as components towards achieving the overarching goals.

Lack of effective monitoring and evaluation is another reason little is known about the impact of these social programmes on broader macroeconomic indicators such as poverty, unemployment and overall living standard. The scorecard for the NSPP is yet to be operational, the report said.

“Many of the government-led intervention programmes do not cater for the majority of the poor and vulnerable Nigerians due to weak social infrastructure, limited funding and manpower requirements,” the report said, adding that some government agencies work in silos and there are often limited partnerships between the federal and state governments in designing and implementing social programmes.

According to the report, an inclusion strategy will ensure all social interventions are aligned with the broader developmental goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the medium term. A good starting point for the development of the NSIS is the revised National Social Protection Policy which represents the policy framework for social interventions in the country, the report said.