Nigeria Social Register: Key To Reaching The Poorest Of The Poor

“As we have seen clearly, the current Nigeria Social Register (NSR), which was strenuously birthed after an extraordinary cum painstaking local and international efforts, while the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), pragmatically and successfully monitored the use of the register for the implementation of conditional cash transfer programme in Nigeria, should be seen and handled by the present civilian government as sacrosanct.

It should be insulated from political manipulation and corruption. While not perfect, the NSR could be updated in a transparent process, monitored and safeguarded closely, for optimal results in poverty reduction in the country; it should be made to act as a perpetual entity fueling the machinery making the poorest of the poor an inclusive component of national redemptive programs against extreme poverty”

Because the economy in Nigeria has always been clashing over the seas, with staggering poverty as constant bedfellows for the poorest of the poor, it was a triumphant development when the National Social Register (NSR) came into existence under the Buhari/Osinbajo administration.

Therefore, this writer was aghast when one of the outcomes of the National Economic Council meeting held on Thursday, 20 July, 2023 called into question the overall integrity of the National Social Register.

Specifically, the Office of the Vice President was silent on that particular outcome, while the news everywhere was that NEC has jettisoned the National Social Register. 

Interestingly and recently, the new Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has cleared the air; that they are verifying the register and ANEEJ has swiftly called for transparency and accountability in the verification process.

The Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor posited in a press statement dated 29th August,2023, as follows:

“The FG should release a public statement with details on how the process is being carried out across the States to sustain easy tracking from independent monitoring organizations. This way, there will be less criticism of the final register.

“It is important that we build on what the previous administration has done instead of starting afresh. This way, the register could be expanded to cater for more poor Nigerians across the entire local government areas in the country”.

This piece is being done to add my patriotic voice to the need to make the National Social Register as an article of faith for the poorest of the poor in our country.

The logic is that the various governments in Nigeria have simply refused to do anything that resembles a national social security agenda, while the poorest of the poor have continuously been atrocious victims of monumental maladministration, it is imperative that well meaning Nigerians should join ANEEJ, in calling stridently for the continuous transparent application of the National Social Register in reaching the poverty stricken masses of Nigeria.

Rev. David Ugolor had earlier, in a press release dated July 23rd, 2023, not only opposed the mishandling or eventually killing of the Nigeria Social Register, but provided candid information about the involvement of his organization in the monitoring of Nigeria’s first pragmatic tool in favour of extreme poverty.

According to Rev. David Ugolor:

“Therefore, in order not to embroil a serious governance tool in the cesspool of political abracadabra, it is imperative to assert the facts surrounding the creation of that Register and the transparent process adopted in developing it based on our experience in leading over 800 Civil Society Organisations and individuals drawn from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria to carry out an independent  end-to-end  monitoring (upstream and downstream) of the utilization of the second tranche of the Late General Sani Abacha $322.5million returned from Switzerland, otherwise known as Abacha II. Our involvement was in addition to the internal grievance mechanisms that were built into the structure by the Federal Government agencies.

“Our main aim of carrying out the monitoring exercise was to ensure that the returned assets was not re-looted as was the case with the $493million Abacha I, also returned from Switzerland which ANEEJ monitored in 2005.

“We would like to put on record, based on available facts, that the development of the National Social Investment Programmes under which the Social Register was adopted, as an important campaign promise of the All Progressives Congress (APC). By the time the APC won the Presidential Election in 2015 and the Buhari Administration assumed office, the World Bank had already advanced the development of the Register in 8 States under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance, during the Jonathan administration.

“Prior to June 2015, the development of the Social Register was a contractual process that involved the direct engagement of the States Governments with the World Bank. 

The out gone Buhari Administration adopted the idea as part of its National Social Investment Programme, the World Bank working with the State and Federal Governments, provided the Guidelines utilised in making the Register a National database”.

The World Bank’s guidelines firmly provided a community-based approach, in accordance with international best practices. The Register was first and foremost about the States, each State Government was asked to establish a State Operations Coordinating Office (SOCU) within the State Ministry of Planning, nominating staff that had the requisite credentials for data collation, ranging from statistics, monitoring, gender, etc. 

State and LGA staff were trained as enumerators, along the process outlined in the Guidelines, and thereafter commenced direct engagement with the identified poorest communities through a process of focus group discussions.

These communities were encouraged to identify the parameters for poverty within their own context, and then name the households that fell into those parameters.

Ultimately, after a plenary was held and there was a sign off on the list drawn up by the community itself, the enumerators proceeded to visit the Identified households for data that was critical for a better appreciation of the poverty levels endemic in the lives of these vulnerable Nigerians.

Fields that were captured included size of household, gender components, age, levels of education, livelihoods, living conditions and assets. All the information are captured on a technology device that consisted of a proxy means test formula which  automatically provided a ranking for the poverty levels of each household, based on the information entered. 

The States were, therefore, directly responsible for the collation of data that comprises the State Social Registers and the SOCU’s, in the various Ministries of Planning, still exist and can confirm this fact. Subsequent to State, LGA & community collation, however, the data is sent to the National Social Safety Net Coordination Office at Federal level only for the purposes of cleaning & alignment with other State Social Registers. This is what became known as the National Social Register.

The National Social Register is being perceived and described as if it is singularly sourced and developed by  Federal Government, when in fact it is the States and their staff that have oversighted, collated and defined their own Social Registers, only submitting the data to the Federal Government for the purposes of providing a National Social Register, being necessary for a holistic appreciation of poverty levels in the country. 

It is also pertinent to mention that, for the purposes of the World Bank-assisted cash transfers, only the poorest households on the NSR were paid the bi-monthly cash transfers (of N10,000) with funds derived IDA and the $322.5m recovered Abacha ‘loot’. 

Indeed, for the purpose of this stream of cash transfers, LGA officials were intentionally trained on financial literacy and then facilitated to visit each and every household that was a recipient of the cash transfers, every week, to hold their hands and guide them through their savings and investment decision-making. 

It is on record that ANEEJ, with over 800 monitors across the country, monitored the disbursement of the Cash Transfers and commended the integrity of the National Social Register.

The World Bank was central to the development of the Register, which factor facilitated the disbursement of the funds from the first tranche of the Abacha loot returned to Nigeria, through a judgement delivered by the Swiss Government. Donor agencies and development partners actually commended the integrity of the National Social Register and the diligent process that produced it.

There are numerous video testimonials by beneficiaries of the World Bank-assisted cash transfers, and the use of the NSR for the benefit of the poor and vulnerable households was not in contention. 

Specifically, as at 30th June, 2023 the NSR consisted of 62,819,214 individuals; 15,730,004 households, over 8,000 Federal electoral wards, 764 LGAs and almost 200,000 communities across all the States of the Federation & the FCT. 83% of the individuals on NSR had bank accounts and electronic wallets opened for them to enable them receive cash transfers from various programs that have adopted the NSR for various reasons.

It is the case today that not only has the overall development and use of the NSR been applauded internationally, development partners, philanthropists and various groups have been using the National Social Register to implement several of their initiatives and schemes, in the knowledge that the integrity of that database has not been compromised. This is a success story of the use of returned assets coming from Nigeria which is already being shared as a positive model the world over. 

The NSR was not compromised even under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development after the NSIPs were moved there in 2019. The structure was firmly in place and the World Bank was monitoring closely and prevented attempts to wantonly add names to the Register.

Politicians were not involved in the process. This unarguably was intentional, to ensure that the households identified are known & identified by persons living within their midst, as truly in need of support. The entire process has been heavily resourced and supported by development partners, which route has facilitated a database that is as authentic as is possible.

The danger always exists that relying on the political actors to develop such a critical database might compromise its integrity, so those saddled with the responsibility at State & Federal levels worked independently and assiduously to develop what is known as the nation’s Social Register.

As we have seen clearly, the current Nigeria Social Register (NSR), which was strenuously birthed after an extraordinary cum painstaking local and international efforts, while the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), pragmatically and successfully monitored the use of the register for the implementation of conditional cash transfer programme in Nigeria, should be seen and handled by the present civilian government as sacrosanct.

It should be insulated from political manipulations and corruption. While not perfect, the NSR could be updated in a transparent process, monitored and safeguarded closely, for optimal results in poverty reduction in the country; it should be made to act as a perpetual entity fueling the machinery making the poorest of the poor an inclusive component of national redemptive programs against extreme poverty.

Nowinta Igbotako, a Media/Research Consultant @ Nigeria Good Governance Research Centre could be reached: nowintaigbotako@gmail.com 

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG