56% of Social Benefits Dont reach poor Nigerians, says World Bank
By Samuel Ogunsona
The World Bank has said that some 56 percent of social security funds do not reach the target vulnerable Nigerians.
More than half are being left behind in the country’s social safety net programs.
The new World Bank report revelation has raised important issues about corruption within the distribution net.
The majority of social benefits are not reaching those who need them most, the report made available to Irohinoodua indicated.
This staggering revelation shows that despite billions of naira spent yearly on social safety nets, only 44% of total benefits from government-funded schemes actually reach poor Nigerians.
According to the report, “Safety nets expenditure is inefficient, with a smaller share of benefits going to the poor. While 56 per cent of the beneficiaries are poor, only 44 per cent of the total safety net benefits go to the poor.”
The bank attributes this imbalance to the way most programs allocate a fixed amount per household rather than per person, resulting in poor families sharing limited benefits among more members.
The report further notes that initiatives targeting individuals, such as the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, are less affected by this problem but currently have limited coverage.
The World Bank also highlighted that Nigeria’s social safety-net spending is far below global and regional averages, with the country’s allocation to social protection standing at barely 0.14% of its GDP.
As a result, the combined effect of all existing social protection programs has reduced the national poverty headcount by just 0.4 percentage points, underscoring the need for a more effective and targeted approach to poverty reduction.
