The National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) has called on state governments across the country to institutionalise social protection systems, to ensure sustainability.

The Coordinator, Mr Apera Lorwa, made the call on Friday in Kano, at the dissemination of the Institutional Capacity Assessment Report of State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU),and State Conditional Cash Transfer Unit (SCTU).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by NASSCO, with support from Save the Children International under its Expanding Social Protection for Inclusive Development project.

Lorwa, who was represented by Mr Kabiru Mohammed, Head of Policy and Programmes Development, NASSCO, urged all states to provide a legal framework for social protection.

“Based on the findings of the report, one of the recommendations was for governments to institutionalise social protection programmes and ensure that the elements that will ensure the institutionalisation, are given due attention.

“For example, in some of the states, critical staff were not fully deployed to the SOCU and SCTU, but on ad-hoc bases; we want a full deployment of staff to the units.

“There is also the issue of office space, equipment and staff capacity required for effective delivery of social protection services,” he said.

He also pointed out that most of the states had Social Protection Policy, adding however, that such states had yet to transform the policies into law, for sustainability.

He equally stressed the need for the state to make budgetary allocation to SOCU and SCTU, to augment Federal Government and World Bank funding support.

The coordinator said that National Social State Nets Programme was the largest safety net programme in Nigeria, currently benefiting more than nine million households and more than 40 million people across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He explained that Save the Children International had in 2020, engaged a consultant to assess the capacity of SOCU under NASSCO and SCTU under the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO).

According to him, the move is to assess their weaknesses, opportunities and strength, as well as provide recommendations for long and short-term institutional capacity strengthening of the SOCU and SCTU.

Ms Ruth Adzege, Social Protection – Systems Strengthening Specialist, said the assessment was undertaken in 10 states namely, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano Lagos Yobe, and Zamfara.

She said the states were assessed on leadership management and decision-making, planning and budgeting, multi-sector coordination and facilitating, and also mechanism for targeting and reaching poor and vulnerable.

Others were staffing and human resource management, service delivery and technical supervision, financial management system, gender management system and knowledge management.

She said Kaduna State emerged at the top with 68 per cent score, with Bayelsa and Benue states trailing behind with 62 per cent each, followed by Anambra state with 59 per cent.

Earlier, Mrs Rebecca Padonu of the Kaduna State Social Investment Office, reiterated the government commitment towards ensuring sustainability of social protection programmes in the state.

She said efforts were ongoing to ensure that the states’ social protection bill was passed and signed into law.

Also, the Deputy Governor, Jigawa State Mr Umar Namadi, said the state’s Social Protection Bill was already before the State Assembly, for passage.

Namadi, who was represented by State Focal Person, Social Investment Programme, Mr Bala Usman, said Jigawa state government was doing all it could to strengthen its social protection systems.