Abuja — Barring any unforeseen circumstances or last minute change of heart by President Yar'Adua and his cabinet, by December 2009, according to Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, the poor and underprivileged in Nigeria will enjoy a better life as the Yar'Adua government vows to implement a social security policy. Four months ago, in a significant move which did not attract much attention, the Yar'Adua government set up a National Working Committee on Social Security Policy for Nigeria. The committee was under the chairmanship of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.

If the Yar'Adua government is able to deliver on social security or social welfare, it means that Nigeria would become a welfare state in which the poor, the weak, the unemployed can look forward to a series of measures and actions taken by the government to make their life easier and better. The government as is done in the well-known welfare states of the world like the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Denmark will be there always, to lend a helping hand to the very desperate and vulnerable, who form a majority of the Nigerian population.

Yar'Adua, Gowon's growing concern.

While it is too early to say to what extent the Nigerian Government can go in really putting reliable and workable social security systems in place, indications are that the government is enthusiastic about this task and is willing and determined to see it through. Speaking at the brief ceremony where the National Social Welfare Committee under General Gowon handed over its report to the government, the Honourable Minister of Labour who stood in for President Yar'Adua, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, declared that the present government is desirous about providing social security for the people adding that the "essence of government is to provide security and welfare for its citizens". Continuing, the Minister said, 'the whole essence of the seven point agenda of the Yar'Adua administration is to make life easy for the people and ensure that they are adequately protected and provided with the good things of life'.

Prince Kayode declared further that, "I want to assure you, even though it took us 49 years to do it, and it took the committee four months to put the policy together, the government will implement it and this will be done in four months". With social security according to him, 'we will handle poverty, crimes and other social vices. We will implement this policy, we will drive it.' The Minister then challenged Nigerians of all persuasion and strata to support the policy and be ambassadors to drive its successful implementation saying the era when only government can make things work are over.

The position of elder statesman, General Yakubu Gowon on the need for social security policy to combat poverty is very instructive and this could have greatly influenced the work of his committee.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony of the report, General Gowon, after decrying the high level of poverty among Nigerians, which he described as unacceptable, said that 'a nation that placed great premium on the welfare and well being of its citizens, above all else, was a nation that eyed greatness'.

The elder statesman expressed hope that the policy and the recommendations would meet the national aspiration through substantial reduction in crimes and corrupt practices, increased productivity through inclusion, reduction of poverty by reducing income vulnerability and promotion of solidarity, patriotism and nationalism. General Gowon, expressed concern over the present state of affairs in the country where there is a total collapse and non-existence in some cases of basic infrastructure, thereby creating a disincentive that has fuelled rural- urban migration and made life difficult for all and sundry. He condemned the paradoxical situation whereby in spite of its wealth, many Nigerians are unable to afford the basic necessities of life.

Further, the elder statesman, observed that, the steady decline in the standard of living, and our ethical values as a people, over the years, are attributable to widening income inequality, mass unemployment, mass poverty and social exclusion. He attributed the existence of these socio- economic maladies to internal mis- governance and malfeasance across the board.

Why social security may fail.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the National Chairman of one of the political parties, the National Action Council (NAN), Dr. Olopade Agoro, opposed calls for social security in the country arguing that the country is not ripe for it. He said for any country to put in place a successful national social security system there must be employment opportunities for the citizens. According to him, "You cannot put social security in a country where about ninety percent of the population are unemployed. It is achievable if the leadership of the country establish working industries that will ensure employment for the citizens." Dr. Agoro further said that the best social security that government can put in place is to reduce the widening gap between the rich and the poor through balancing the disparity in lifestyles, income and expenses of the poor and the rich to make the domestic situation conducive for social security. He also opined that the state of the Nigerian economy cannot sustain a social security system.

Collaborating Dr. Agoro's view, Chairman of the Action Congress (AC), FCT Chapter, Honourable Sunny Moniedafe, said for a reliable and efficient social security system, a country has to have a good database of the number of the poor and underprivileged as well as a reliable population statistics and census result. The erudite AC chieftain said that it is doubtful whether the government can conveniently say how many people are in Nigeria let alone the number of Nigerians who are underprivileged to be in need of social security. According to him, without a reliable database and census result, the entire programme is bound to fail as government will be working with population estimates which are generally unreliable.

Defining Social Security

A social security or social welfare provision, refers to any programme which seeks to provide a guaranteed minimum level of income, service or other support for the population of a country as a whole, or for specific groups, such as poor , elderly and disabled people. Social welfare programmes are undertaken by governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Social welfare payments and services are provided at the expense of taxpayers generally or by obligatory National Insurance Contributions, funded by benefactors.

Though the Nigerian social security policy and system is yet to be unveiled, however, going by the example of the Scandinavian countries and the UK there are examples of social welfare services, as follows:

• Compulsory superannuation savings programs.

• Compulsory social insurance programs, often based on income, to pay for the social welfare service being provided. These are often incorporated into the taxation system and may be inseparable from income tax.

• Pensions, either for the entire population or for those who had lower incomes.

• Financial aid, including social security and tax relief, to those with low incomes or inability to meet basic living costs, especially those who are raising children, elderly, unemployed, injured, sick or disabled.

• Free or low cost nursing, medical and hospital care, antenatal and postnatal care for those who are sick, injured or unable to care for themselves. This may be available to everybody, or means tested. Services may be provided in the community or a medical facility.

• Free or low-cost public education for all children, and financial aid, sometimes as a scholarship or pension, sometimes in the form of a suspensory loan, to students attending academic institutions or undertaking vocational training.

• The state may also fund or operate social work and community-based organizations that provide services that benefit disadvantaged people in the community.

• Welfare money paid by a government to persons who are in need of financial assistance.

Role of Urbanisation

Urbanisation and economic difficulties worsened the condition of the poor and weak in the society. In traditional societies where everyone lived in a village or community setting, the family, the kindred and one's relations, provided social welfare or social security services. The family or community usually came to the assistance of the poor. No one was allowed to become destitute as help was always available. Except someone was lazy, there was full employment as everyone depended on the land. If any member of the family or community had poor harvest or crop failure, others rallied to him and ensured that the person in question and dependants did not suffer.

In the traditional setting, the weak and the elderly were never left alone nor were they taken to special institutions like the Old People's Homes we have today. Every family or community took care of its weak and elderly involving them in all day to day activities except strenuous work. These people had all the support and comradeship available to the strong. Orphans were not sent to Orphanages but were seen as children of the family or community and treated as such. The march of urbanisation, the advent of the nuclear family, paid employment and economic difficulties of the modern economic system imported into Africa by colonialism changed the way of life of our people thus necessitating state intervention through social welfare to individuals and groups unable to cope with modern day challenges and individualism.

It is therefore no surprise that the idea of social security/welfare originated from the industrialised countries of Europe and America, whose exploited and underpaid industrial working class lived in great misery.

The sociologist, M. Penelope Hall, in his work, "The Social Services of modern England," said, the plea of social welfare and it administration was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 19th of December 1948, under article 25, which says, "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

However, it was in 1968 that the first UN International Conference of Ministers responsible for social welfare met in New York and gave a totally new conception to the idea of social security as one function which is among the human rights of citizens within a state.

Myth or Reality?

The fact that Nigeria is about implementing a social welfare policy, 49 years after independence, does not mean that the government had totally neglected the weak in our society. There have been and there are a number of pro-poor policies and programmes designed to assist those in need. The problem is that these programmes are not well coordinated and does not go far enough in addressing poverty and want among the people.

Among these pro-poor programmes which will form components of the new social security policy are the several efforts at free primary education, the Universal Basic Education (UBE) and the National poverty Eradication Programmes (NAPEP).

As Nigerians await the new social security system and government vows its determination to make it succeed, doubts have arisen about whether the policy will work. This doubt emanate from realisation of the high level of unemployment in the country, corruption, illiteracy and low production capacity.