Musa Ubandawaki, Sokoto
Sokoto State Government has on Thursday issued a strong call for urgent inclusion of thousands of neglected communities as it hailed the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for supporting the expansion of the State Social Register, an intervention expected to lift hundreds of thousands of poor and vulnerable residents into future social protection programs.
The commendation came from the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Abubakar Muhammad Zayyana, while declaring open a technical consultation on the Multidimensional Model of the National Social Register Expansion at Sokoto Guest Inn.
Dr. Zayyana warned that no fewer than 3,041 communities and settlements in Sokoto remain completely uncovered by both national and state social registers an omission he described as a grave deprivation of basic human rights and a major barrier to accessing essential services and income-support interventions.
He reaffirmed the state government’s full commitment to partnering with the EU and UNICEF to ensure the enrolment of 250,000 new beneficiaries between November 2025 and November 2026.
Representing the Sultanate Council, the District Head of Gagi, Sarkin Yakin Gagi, Alhaji Sani Umar, called for stronger involvement of urban local governments, especially within the Sokoto metropolis, noting that insecurity-driven migration has concentrated large populations of vulnerable people in the state capital who remain unregistered.
He emphasised the need for continuous engagement with traditional rulers to prevent inclusion and exclusion errors, stressing that the social register remains a critical tool for tackling both monetary and multidimensional poverty.
Also speaking, the Sokoto Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdullahi A. Yabo, demanded that public and private-sector workers be considered in future distributions of commodities and cash interventions, noting that many workers earn below the global poverty benchmark of $1.25 per day.
Presenting the framework for the multidimensional model, UNICEF Sokoto’s Social Policy Specialist, Mr. Isah Ibrahim, revealed that the EU, through UNICEF, will enroll 1,000,000 vulnerable households across Abia, Benue, Oyo, and Sokoto States, with each state targeting 250,000 households before the end of the next fiscal year.
He explained that the revised approach focuses on multidimensional poverty indicators, aiming to create an inclusive and interoperable National Social Register that supports cross-sectoral planning, generates demand for services, and strengthens referral systems in health, education, nutrition, and social services.
According to him, the model also prioritizes equity, transparency, community participation, and improved grievance-redress mechanisms to ensure that the poorest households are accurately identified and effectively linked to social protection programs.
