OLD AGE VULNERABILITY AND FORMAL SOCIAL PROTECTION IN NIGERIA: THE NEED FOR RENEWED FOCUS ON PROSPECTS OF INFORMAL SOCIAL PROTECTION

Abstract

A renewed look at informal social protection may offer an effective option for addressing vulnerability among elderly Nigerians. This follows the need to overcome both current, and potential challenges in elder vulnerability, related to population aging. The main argument posed by this article is that, social protection in Nigeria has traditionally ignored the elderly, right from its colonial roots. Subsequent governments have also ignored the elderly in social policy, and social protection programmes. As a result, social vulnerability seems synonymous with old age among Nigerians. This article maintains that, as a phenomenon that requires attention, elderly vulnerability in relation to population aging, can be approached by strengthening informal social protection. Importantly, where necessary, a synergy should be innovated between formal and informal social protection systems. The framework for analysis was sourced from aging and modernization theory. The integration of these perspectives explains why formal social protection has rendered the elderly in Nigeria more vulnerable. The framework also justified the need for resorting to potentialities, within informal social protection. It was highlighted that, informal social protection can serve as an option for addressing elderly vulnerability, based on a subjective analysis of the wide range of traditional informal strategies available, within Nigerian communities. However, the analysis was limited to modernization theory, while a wider more comprehensive analysis could be attained by the integration of other theories