A new report by the World Bank has revealed that since the Federal Government’s N5,000 monthly cash transfer program was established in 2016, only 19.4% of Nigerians have benefitted from the scheme. The report also indicated that an estimated 42.69 million poor Nigerians were excluded from the program, which means that only about 40.21 million Nigerians benefitted from the cash transfer program. The report further highlighted that about 40% of Nigerians lived on less than the national poverty line at the end of 2022, with an additional 25% of the population at high risk of falling into poverty.
The Federal Government’s N5,000 monthly cash transfer program, established in 2016, has only benefited 19.4% of Nigerians.
The World Bank report revealed that an estimated 42.69 million poor Nigerians were excluded from the program, which means that only about 40.21 million Nigerians benefitted from the cash transfer program.
About 40% of Nigerians lived on less than the national poverty line at the end of 2022, with an additional 25% of the population at high risk of falling into poverty.
The World Bank report also stated that Nigeria needs to spend more to address the issue of poverty and protect Nigerians. It recommended that Nigeria rapidly and comprehensively expand the coverage and adequacy of its social protection programs to allow households to cope better with inevitable future shocks. There have been calls for expanding the social safety net to cover more poor people, and experts agree that the government needs to be transparent and make the database accessible to everyone for easy confirmation.
The World Bank report highlights the need for the Nigerian government to prioritize social safety nets to help combat poverty and protect vulnerable Nigerians. The government needs to work towards expanding the coverage of its social protection programs and improve transparency to ensure that only genuine poor people benefit from these programs.
