Nigeria has experienced strong economic growth over recent decades. However, at the same
time, the country has seen extremely high and rapid increases in the poverty rate (doubling in
a 20-year period and exacerbated by the recent food, fuel and financial (Triple F) crisis), high
inequality and a concurrent threat of instability. These challenges are of significant concern for
the country‘s development.
Social protection is increasingly being seen by the international community, regional bodies
(e.g. the African Union (AU)) and national governments as a policy tool to address such
development challenges. Recent regional and global imperatives to invest in social protection
argue that social protection policy and programming can support a more equitable pro-poor
growth model (especially, as in Nigeria, where strong growth economic is not benefiting the
poor) by supporting both economic and social development.
This report examines the current status of social protection policy and programming in Nigeria
and finds that it is falling significantly short as a policy response to address the needs of the
poor. It then makes a number of policy and programming recommendations for the
government and development partners to strengthen the nascent agenda.