The World Bank has expressed concern over the inefficiency of Nigeria’s social safety net programmes, revealing that although more than half of their beneficiaries are poor, the majority of the country’s poor population remains unreached.
In its latest report titled “The State of Social Safety Nets in Nigeria,” the global financial institution disclosed that 56 per cent of beneficiaries of government welfare programmes are poor, yet only 44 per cent of the total benefits actually reach poor households.
According to the report, this disparity underscores a major inequality in the distribution of benefits, suggesting that while Nigeria’s safety net structure appears extensive on paper, it fails to adequately target and sustain the nation’s most vulnerable groups.
“While 56 per cent of the beneficiaries are poor, only 44 per cent of the total safety net benefits go to the poor. For each program category, the share of benefits going to the poor is lower than the share of beneficiaries that are poor,” the World Bank stated.
The Bank attributed the inefficiency largely to how benefits are allocated—mostly at the household level rather than to individuals. It explained that this system disadvantages poor households, which typically have larger family sizes, as the same benefit amount is divided among more people.
The report highlighted the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) as an example of a scheme that targets individuals directly and could help reduce such inefficiencies. However, it noted that the programme’s limited coverage—benefiting only children in grades one to three—curtails its overall impact.
“Programs such as the NHGSFP, which target individuals and not households, should be less affected by these issues. But NHGSFP only benefits children in grades 1 to 3, and does not yet have full coverage, which limits the number of children per household that can benefit,” the report added.
Policy analysts have urged the federal government to undertake a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s social protection framework. Recommended measures include real-time data integration, improved targeting of poor households, and stronger coordination between federal and state agencies.
Earlier, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) had called on the government to enhance social protection systems to cushion the harsh effects of ongoing economic reforms. Similarly, in June, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised concerns over the absence of an effective safety net to protect vulnerable Nigerians amid economic adjustments.
