In fragile and conflict-affected north-eastern Nigeria, social assistance delivery has evolved from a near absence of any form of systematic and organised approach to a promising attempt to coordinate and deliver services to the most vulnerable populations in the region. After over a decade of interventions by both national and international actors, the complex humanitarian situation remains protracted and precarious, making social assistance an urgent priority.
The 2023 Global Humanitarian Overview states that at least 8.3 million people in the north-east areas of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe need humanitarian assistance in 2023. The number of food insecure people in the lean season is expected to increase to 4.4 million in 2023 from 4.1 million in 2022. The humanitarian situation is further exacerbated by the effects of last year’s severe flooding which caused more devastations to already suffering communities.
Setting the context
Social protection became a major policy focus for the Nigerian government under the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari in 2015. The administration inherited a protracted crisis in north-eastern Nigeria which peaked in 2014/2015, during which over two hundred girls were abducted by Boko Haram. The crisis led to large-scale displacement of people, who witnessed the killing of tens of thousands of people, suffered the destruction of their property, and have had their basic needs such as water, food and shelter compromised. People were forced to move to areas of possible safety either as internally displaced persons in communities or camps within Nigeria or as refugees in neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, estimates that over 2.4 million people have been displaced with more than 7 million at the risk of starvation. The resultant complex humanitarian situation is far beyond the national capacity of the Government of Nigeria to cope, leading to massive surge of global humanitarian intervention in north-east Nigeria. For the affected population to survive, social assistance became the only means through which they could access the basics of life for their daily existence, and possible hope for the future. Providing assistance to the most vulnerable people is challenging at the best of times, as people live in difficult-to-reach areas. This is complicated by the interplay between national and international actors during the crisis.
A legacy of limited coordination
The situation in north-eastern Nigeria is particularly challenging as different national and international actors strive to provide social assistance in the crisis areas. There has historically been a complete absence of coordination of social protection delivery in this context. At the national level, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has the mandate to provide quick response to immediate needs in crisis areas, while the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Local Emergency Management Agency (LEMA) provide a more structured and longer-term response at the sub-national and local levels respectively. The north-eastern Nigerian crisis overwhelmed the existing national response systems for social provisioning, leading to intervention by international actors. The International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and aid agencies, all deployed technical, material and financial support. However, most donors operate from national and state capitals, and are therefore unable to provide assistance to those most-affected in hard-to-reach areas. There initially was a limited presence of local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to assist INGOs with delivery of social assistance, and no functional coordination hub to facilitate better and more coordinated delivery of social protection.
To ensure coordination at the early stage, donors met to coordinate international actors at the national level in Abuja. In December 19, 2016, UN OCHA set up a regional coordination hub for other actors including both UN and non-UN agencies. The purpose of this hub is to share learning and coordinate rather than replicating aid activities. UN OCHA coordinates monthly Humanitarian Coordination Meeting (HCM) in Borno and supports the Government lead State Humanitarian Coordination Forum (SHCF). Sector coordination takes place through government lead, UN/INGO co-lead Working Groups in the following areas: Education, Food Security and Livelihoods, Health and Nutrition, Protection and WASH.
Complexities and challenges
There are several dynamics at play which influence the delivery of social assistance in Nigeria. This means that delivery is not always a straightforward process, and that creates challenges for those involved in delivering social assistance. The dynamics worth considering include:
- Prevalence of infrastructural deficits such as bad road networks and very weak communication networks with Non-State Armed Actors (NSAGs) destroying the barely existing ones, making it difficult for easy mobility and reach to affected populations and communities.
- Unpredictable security situation: there is continuous combat between Security Forces and NSAGs in some local government areas, while most of the areas are still witnessing incessant sporadic attacks, ambushes and kidnapping by NSAGs
- Poor knowledge and understanding of the operations of UN agencies/INGOs by sub-regional authorities and stakeholders has created some misperception and suspicion of the interventions of international actors in the region. There have been attempts to regulate the operations and movements of INGOs/UN agencies in the region.
- The lack of political will by national and sub-national authorities for a political solution or settlement of the conflict for the cessation of violence and end to the crises.
- Inaccurate and incomplete database of affected populations and locations, making targeting and delivery of social assistance difficult.
- Contested areas of political authorities in the north-east, particularly some areas in Borno and forested/mountainous areas of Adamawa south and Yobe states, is dominated by NSAGs, which makes social assistance all most impossible to the people.
- Inter-agency competition and rivalry by UN and non-UN agencies in social assistance delivery leading to duplication and round-tripping of assistance in the area of operations.
- A reactive social assistance policy not based on systems, processes, budget allocations and targeted implementations to affected populations and communities.
A way forward for understanding social assistance in Nigeria
Nigeria’s social protection policy environment is still at a rudimentary stage with national and sub-national structures now gradually institutionalising social assistance. This is at a relatively slow pace compared to the scale of the crisis. Understanding how some of these changes are likely to improve effectiveness of social assistance delivery is key to increasing knowledge, learning and experience sharing of actors.
There is still a limited understanding of the social assistance ecosystem in north-eastern Nigeria due to the lack of empirical data on the subject. The political under-currents, as well as the interplays and dynamics between actors and social assistance delivery in the region is under-researched. Though social protection is becoming a major national policy focus of the national government, there is yet to be any special consideration for crises-affected areas and how best to deliver social assistance to these communities. An exploration of social assistance and the inherent politics involved is therefore imperative to help in filling the knowledge gaps.
As part of the Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) Research Programme, we will be exploring how international, national and local actors can work together to strengthen commitments and effectively, efficiently and sustainably provide social assistance to those in need in the north-eastern Nigeria. The research will explore critical issues around politics and political economy, climate and livelihood resilience, inclusion and participation, and systems for design and delivery. With this understanding, we hope to provide an evidence base for what is likely to work when delivering social assistance, which will be useful to actors on-the-ground.
Joseph is currently the Director, Research & Policy Analysis, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Abuja, Nigeria.
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