WORLD BANK REVEALS MOST SOCIAL BENEFITS MISS NIGERIA’S POOREST HOUSEHOLDS
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A new World Bank report has revealed that only 44 per cent of Nigeria’s social welfare benefits reach poor households, despite government efforts to support vulnerable citizens through social protection programmes.
According to the report titled “The State of Social Safety Nets in Nigeria,” 56 per cent of the beneficiaries of government-funded social programmes are poor, but they receive less than half of the total benefits distributed.
The report attributed the imbalance to the design of several welfare initiatives, which allocate a fixed amount per household rather than per individual. It explained that since poorer households are typically larger, the value of the benefit received per person is significantly lower.
The World Bank identified the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) as one of the more efficient social protection initiatives, as it targets individuals rather than households. However, it noted that the programme’s impact is limited because it only covers pupils in primary school grades 1 to 3 and has not yet achieved full national coverage.
The report further showed that Nigeria spends just 0.14 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on social protection programmes — far below the global average of 1.5 per cent and the Sub-Saharan African average of 1.1 per cent.
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As a result, the overall impact of all social protection spending in the country has reduced poverty by only 0.4 percentage points — a change the World Bank described as “almost negligible.”
To address these challenges, the Bank recommended reforms in the design and implementation of welfare programmes to ensure that benefits reach the most vulnerable groups. It also urged the government to expand individual-based interventions like the NHGSFP, increase budgetary allocation for social protection, and improve coordination among federal and state agencies.
The World Bank further advised strengthening national data systems such as the social registry to enhance transparency and ensure that funds are targeted at households most in need.
The report concluded that without significant structural reforms, Nigeria’s social protection programmes will continue to have limited impact on reducing poverty.
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