United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for stronger government commitment and sustained investment in the National Social Register (NSR), describing it as a vital tool for poverty reduction in Nigeria.

Addressing a Stakeholders Engagement Conference on advancing social protection through the NSR, its Social Policy Manager, Muhammed Okorie, explained that the register identifies poor and vulnerable households through three phases: community-level poverty identification, application of a proximity test, and database compilation. This, he said, ensures interventions are evidence-based and targeted at those who need them most.

Okorie stressed that sustaining the register requires a policy framework mandating its use by all poverty-related agencies, constant updates to capture changing realities, and direct budgetary allocation.

He noted that UNICEF’s lessons show that the register eliminates favouritism and political bias by targeting transparency, while also evolving from monetary poverty to multi-dimensional coverage.

According to him, the document supports governments in planning, resource allocation, and evidence-informed decision-making, thus eliminating reliance on guesswork.

The UNICEF official highlighted the role of civil society, development partners, government, and the private sector in strengthening the system.

He said civil society ensures inclusivity and accountability, while sectors like health and education can deploy the data to reach vulnerable groups.

In her welcome address, National Coordinator of the National Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Dr. Funmi Olootu, revealed that the register covers over 19 million households and 70 million individuals nationwide.

She said as of August this year, more than 8.3 million records had been validated with the National Identification Number (NIN).     Olootu emphasised that NASSCO’s collaboration with state governments, development partners, and civil society is central to building a transparent and accountable social protection framework.

Also speaking, National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Dr. Badamasi Lawal, described the NSR as the backbone of evidence-based targeting for social interventions.

He said they had disbursed N392 billion in cash transfers to over eight million beneficiaries in alignment with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda on health, education, and poverty reduction. Lawal lauded the World Bank and development partners for their support, urging a collective effort to advance the register.

The World Bank, represented by Dr. Fateemah Adejoke Jagun, congratulated the Federal Government on the NSR’s progress, while noting the hardship reforms have imposed on the poor. She pledged the global institution’s continued support for social protection and stressed the need for digital platforms and sustained public investment.

Similarly, the Tony Elumelu Foundation urged deeper private sector involvement, describing poverty eradication as key to stability and self-reliance.

Nasarawa Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said his government had registered about 570,000 households, covering 1.9 million people out of the state’s three million population. He recalled initiating stipends for vulnerable groups in 2019, beginning with N5,000, which beneficiaries pooled to start small businesses.

Today, over 6,000 people benefit monthly from expanded support of N10,000, he added.  Sule commended the President’s subsidy and currency reforms, but warned against raising VAT, a move he said would worsen hardship. His Lagos counterpart, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, reechoed the place of social protection in the state’s growth vision.

He disclosed that the Lagos State Social Register had captured 800,000 households and 2.7 million individuals across 20 council areas, making it the first state to approve the register for all government-led interventions.

Through it, he noted, scholarships, health insurance, and empowerment schemes have been delivered transparently, with Lagos committing N130 billion in 2025, and planning N170 billion next year.  Sanwo-Olu commended the President, NASSCO and state agencies for promoting inclusive prosperity.