Abstract
Empirical findings on the implementation of neoliberal social policies in the global south has presented them as mostly political economy failures. In several studies, their messy interactions with politics and a myriad of implementation bottlenecks were highlighted. Social protection and social programmes, as an example of social policies have unfortunately become politicised used as instruments by political leaders striving to win political capital in environments of unbridled, and complex bureaucratic procedures. This article analyses challenges of social development or ‘developmental welfarism’ in the Nigerian context through interrogation of the territorial governance of Nigerian social protection. The issues addressed by this article relates to the orientation of Nigerian social policy dynamics and the exploration of these challenges, were described as the ‘burdens of developmental welfarism’ which relates to the broader issues of the so-called Nigerian ‘developmental’ state. The analysis of Nigerian social policy dynamics through a political economy lens, highlighted the ramifications of the complex interactions of different stakeholders (international, local and non-state actors) as well as processes and mechanisms that shaped the territorial governance of Nigerian social policy programmes. The article unpacked the issues and challenges of Nigerian social protection and offered some policy recommendations for ‘unburdening’ Nigerian social policy.
Highlights
IntroductionOver the past three decades neoliberal social policies were implemented with the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in many developing countries
Research Unit, Centre for Social Protection and Policy Studies, Birmingham B3 1QG, UK; School of Psychology and Social Science, Arden University, Coventry CV3 4FJ, UK
Considering that Nigeria is relatively new to social protection in comparison to other African countries, it is unhelpful avoiding the inherent flaws in the current social protection programmes
Summary
Over the past three decades neoliberal social policies were implemented with the assistance of the IMF and the World Bank in many developing countries. This article examines the governance of Nigerian social protection by questioning its orientation and debating what it calls the ‘burdens of developmental welfarism’, which, though a contested concept, is fuzzy and opaque with regards to the Nigerian ‘developmental’ state. Interrogating social policy dynamics through a political economy lens, dissecting the ramifications of the interactions by international, local, and non-state actors and the processes and mechanisms in the territorial governance of Nigerian social protection is one of the objectives of this article [2]. The article is structured as follows: the first part outlines the concepts employed in the paper and their treatment in the literature This discussion proceeds to the operationalisation of the welfare regime theory to the Nigerian context. The conclusion anchors the argument on challenges to the evolution and sustainability of the Nigerian nascent welfare regime
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