Experts drawn from government agencies, civil society groups, and development partners have called for an urgent overhaul of Nigeria’s Social Development Act (SDA), warning that the existing framework no longer meets the country’s evolving social protection needs.
According to them, the SDA has fallen behind current realities, especially with rising poverty levels, widening inequality and the increasing impact of economic shocks on households.
The stakeholders argued that without a comprehensive review, the Act would continue to limit the government’s ability to deliver effective social welfare programmes.
They spoke in Abuja yesterday at the National SDA summit, organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA) and funded by the European Union under its CSOs-Bridge Strengthening Project.
The Guardian reports that the Social Development Act, which guides how vulnerable populations are identified. supported, and integrated into national development plans, was first conceptualised in the 1970s and enacted in 2004, as the central framework for coordinated and inclusive social development in Nigeria.
In his remarks, the Chairman of House Committee on Civil Society Organisations and Development Matters, Victor Obuzor, described the Act as the foundational framework intended to coordinate social development efforts nationwide. He, however, lamented that years of fragmentation had significantly undermined its effectiveness.
In her keynote address, the Commissioner, Ministry of Children, Gender and Social Development, Enugu State, Valentina Enih, emphasised that the most important reason for reform was that the Act no longer reflects today’s social challenges.
Similarly, the Deputy Director at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Peter Audu, noted that the government acknowledged the urgent need to update the Act. He said the forum demonstrated a collective resolve to reinforce national cohesion in line with the reform agenda of the present administration.
