According to the World Bank, only 55 percent of the world’s poor are covered in social safety net programs meant to provide regular and predictable support to poor and vulnerable people.
One of President Buhari’s campaign promises was to create a Social Welfare Program for about 25 million poorest and most vulnerable citizens on a monthly stipend of at least N5,000. The President also promised to provide allowances to discharged but unemployed Youth Corps members for 12 months. These promises are challenged by the reality of Nigeria’s dwindling and near-empty treasury due to a drop in the global price of crude oil.
But Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind. An inventory of social safety net programs by the World Bank shows that three quarters of the poorest people in low- and lower-middle income countries, and more than one-third of the poorest people in middle-income countries lack safety net coverage and remain at risk of slipping into extreme poverty and vulnerable to disease.
“More countries at all income levels are investing in social safety net programs because they are transformational.
‘There is strong body of evidence that these programs ensure poor families can invest in the health and education of their children, improve their productivity, and cope with shocks,” said Arup Banerji, the World Bank Group’s Senior Director for Social Protection and Labour.
In the State of Social Safety Nets 2015, 120 developing countries spent around $329 billion on social safety nets between 2010 and 2014. The cost is far less than what most governments spend on subsidising fuel prices.
It is expected that once President Buhari-led government finally gets to work, Nigeria will devote more time to capturing closing gaps in terms of ensuring that more beneficiaries are covered by social safety nets.
In Sub-Saharan Africa generally, where a large fraction of the global poor live, social safety nets cover just one-tenth of the poorest of the population. Being the most populous country in the continent with little coverage, Nigeria adds significantly to the deficits in the number of poor people not covered.
Other highlights of the report also dwelled on the importance of safety net programs in reducing the poverty headcount rate by 8 percent and the poverty gap by 15 percent on average of the poverty gap without safety nets.
“Going forward, more can be done to close the coverage gap and reach the world’s poorest by improving the effectiveness of these programs underpinned by enhanced targeting, improved policy coherence, better administrative integration, and application of technologies,” Banerji said.
African governments are beginning to promote the creation of social welfare programs to carter for the poorest of the poor. According to the World Bank, poverty rate in Nigeria was pegged at 33.1% in 2013, this significantly adds to the statistics of the poorest in the world. Nigeria also ranked third on world poverty index in 2013.
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