Social protection policy responses to poverty in Nigeria

Abstract

Although the Nigerian government has implemented various social protection responses and constitutional safeguards, poverty still affects over 50% of the population, with the northern region being the most affected due to internal migration rates from displaced region and insurgency, including Boko Haram operations that have destroyed infrastructure, caused homelessness, and increased poverty. This study aimed to examine Nigeria's social protection policy responses to poverty. The study used a mixed methods research approach with a representative sample of 204 participants from households in the Bwari, Gwagwalada, and Kuje area councils of Abuja and semi-structured interviews with 15 federal-state policy actors and administrators in social protection. The parallel convergent mixed methods design used a multinomial logistic regression and thematic analysis to examine the effectiveness of social protection policy responses in reducing poverty in Nigeria. A synthesis of both results revealed a lack of access and awareness of the social protection policy in the country, low effective coverage, gender inequality in social protection design, a lack of government commitment, a lack of coordination and planning, and inadequate monitoring and evaluation of roadblocks affecting the social protection policy responses to reduce poverty in Nigeria. The research findings, both quantitative and qualitative, recommend several actions, including the need for spatial analysis of poverty level, gender mainstreaming, creating empowerment opportunities for graduates, targeting beneficiaries with a comprehensive database, prioritising informal social protection policy responses, and adopting effective public management techniques by social protection policy actors and administrators.