By: Joshua Weng Chuwang
The United Nations Children’s Fund has advocated for the complete inclusion of deprived children in Nigeria’s National Social Register, noting that this step will help the government better target interventions and tackle issues relating to poverty in the country.
UNICEF made the call during a one-day Stakeholder Engagement Conference organised by the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office in Lagos on Monday.
The theme of the conference, “Advancing Social Protection through the National Social Register: A Strategic Planning Tool for a Resilient Nigeria,” explicates the need to reshape the present realities of the national social register and how to readjust for an inclusive agenda.
UNICEF’s Social Policy Manager, Muhammad Okorie, explained that the National Social Register is a vital tool to tackle poverty and improve education outcomes.
According to him, social inclusiveness is necessary to ensure that vulnerable children are captured for adequate and effective intervention.
“This helps us create more targeted and tailored interventions. For example, for children and young people, we can identify challenges they face, how they are captured or not captured, and then push for evidence to address those gaps,” he said.
He also stated that UNICEF’s advocacy was centred on ensuring that deprived children are included in the NSR to properly identify the children’s needs and provide them with necessary support.
“At UNICEF, we are advocating that deprived children must also be fully captured. Using the social register, we can, for instance, identify out-of-school children and target them appropriately,” he noted.
Mr. Okorie described the social register as a work in progress and recalled that it focused on monetary poverty when it was first introduced, but since then, it has evolved to capture multidimensional poverty.
“Initially, when it was institutionalised, the focus was mainly on monetary poverty. But now, efforts are being made to integrate multidimensional poverty and deprivation. So, it continues to evolve.”
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while speaking at the event, said his administration has spent over 130 billion naira in 2025 alone.
The governor was ably represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Sam Egube, who disclosed that through the Lagos State Operations Coordinating Unit, the administration has established the Lagos State Single Social Register that enrols poor and vulnerable households.
“Here in Lagos, we have committed over 130 billion naira in 2025 alone to implement targeted interventions that benefit thousands of vulnerable households. Yes, 130 billion naira. We are making sure that every naira spent leads to tangible social impact.
“We intend to increase our budgetary commitment and allocation to this sector by at least 30 percent in 2026 to about 170 billion,” he said.
