Digital Social Protection: Stakeholders Seek Inclusive Policies For Nigeria’s Informal Workers

Stakeholders have called for urgent reforms to ensure that informal workers in Nigeria are not excluded from government social intervention programmes due to poor digital access and weak policy implementation.

The call was made during a roundtable dialogue organised by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in Abuja, which brought together civil society organisations, labour representatives, and informal workers to identify gaps in Nigeria’s digital social protection system and propose rights-based solutions that promote inclusion and data protection.

At the event, the executive director of Glowing Minds Initiatives, Shamsudeen Abdulrazak, explained that the dialogue was convened to facilitate discussions among stakeholders on the challenges affecting informal workers within existing digital social protection systems.

According to him, the objectives of the meeting included identifying gaps in digital social protection systems affecting informal workers, examining barriers to access and digital inclusion, developing recommendations for inclusive, rights-respecting policies, and strengthening collaboration among civil society groups, workers’ representatives, and policymakers.

He noted that recommendations from the dialogue would later be presented to relevant government institutions and lawmakers as evidence-based reform proposals.

Abdulrazak stressed the need for a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s current social protection framework, particularly through expanding digital penetration to rural communities to ensure that vulnerable populations are not excluded from government interventions.

Also, the programme officer and Team Lead at Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Yesmin Salako Ejiwumi, said the increasing digitisation of social protection programmes must take into account the realities of informal workers, many of whom lack access to digital tools and internet services.

She explained that many artisans, traders, cobblers, and tailors in rural communities are unable to participate in digital registration processes because they do not own mobile phones or possess the necessary digital literacy skills.”

Using previous government intervention programmes as an example, she noted that mandatory online registration processes automatically exclude people without access to phones or digital infrastructure.

According to Ejiwumi, the dialogue aimed to examine how digital social protection systems can be designed to effectively reach informal workers and prevent their exclusion from government support programmes,” she said.

In his remarks, Sani Suleyman of Paradigm Initiative called on the Nigerian Data Protection Commission to become more proactive in safeguarding the personal information of vulnerable citizens, especially rural women who are often targeted by scammers through fraudulent requests for sensitive personal details.

He added that the recommendations generated from the meeting would be presented to policymakers, parliamentarians, and relevant ministries as part of ongoing advocacy efforts by civil society organisations.

According to him, while civil society organisations may not directly enforce policy changes, they can continue to engage government institutions and provide evidence-based recommendations that reflect realities on the ground.