Public Policy, Welfarism, and Social Service Delivery In Nigeria: The Case Of A Receding State

Abstract

The retrenchment of the welfare state came with the global ascendancy of the neoliberal policy regime since the 80’s. Since then, the gap between public wants and state policies in most parts of the developing world has widened. The ensuing decline in policy representation and responsiveness —the meeting point between larger public interest as aggregated through public opinion and public policy—has inspired public suspicion and constrained policy legitimacy, thereby resulting in tension between the government and the citizenry now alert in reminiscence of past failures and its negative welfare implications. Nigeria is trapped in a triple development arrest: endemic political corruption and mismanagement, rising challenges of insecurity, and an abysmal state of public infrastructure. In all, the living condition and welfare of the people is the casualty. Contrary to the much advertised gains of neoliberal reforms, and in spite of sponsored reports of economic growth, the living conditions of the average citizen continues to decline amidst mounting youth unemployment, infrastructural decay, pervasive and still rising poverty figures, persistent institutional failures in the delivery of basic social services, and an expanding portfolio of social criminality, corruption and violence. The paper examines public policy and social welfare in Nigeria. It highlights socio-economic factors affecting welfare conditions. It argues that state policies impose the cost of state failure and economic sabotage orchestrated by politically shielded elite on the citizens. It submits that real growth and a smooth state—society relation is achievable when governments check elite venality which constrains development and welfare delivery to the masses by criminalizing and vigorously reducing corruption. It recommends the prioritization of public welfare, an aggressive national action against corruption and a refocusing of national development policy. Keywords: welfarism, public policy, neo-liberalism, social services, Nigeria.