The senate has taken a step toward overhauling Nigeria’s social protection framework as a bill seeking to establish a national social welfare service passed second reading on Thursday.
Sponsored by Orji Uzor Kalu, senator representing Abia north, and seconded by Adamu Aliero of Kebbi central, the proposed legislation aims to create a coordinated, data-driven system to tackle extreme poverty nationwide.
Leading debate on the bill, Kalu said poverty remains one of the country’s most persistent challenges despite years of scattered interventions.
He noted that Nigeria still lacks a central institution capable of managing and tracking welfare programmes with transparency and precision.
