Palliatives or Political Tools? Investigating the Role of Demographic Targeting in Welfare Allocation in Nigeria

Saidu Sanusi Ibrahim; Phone Number; Fati Captain; Phone Number; Hussaini Adamu Hussaini; Phone Number; Atiku Abubakar Idris; Phone Number

doi:10.56201/jpslr.vol.12.no7.2026.pg64.75

Palliatives or Political Tools? Investigating the Role of Demographic Targeting in Welfare Allocation in Nigeria

Saidu Sanusi Ibrahim, Phone Number, Fati Captain, Phone Number, Hussaini Adamu Hussaini, Phone Number, Atiku Abubakar Idris, Phone Number

Abstract

The study is entitled “Palliatives or Political Tools? Investigating the Role of Demographic Targeting in Welfare Allocation in Nigeria”, focuses on the relationship between welfare allocation and political strategy in relation to the concept of demographic targeting. First and foremost, palliatives were adopted as short-term measures for vulnerable groups only to be viewed by people as a tool of political manipulation today. The paper adopted a mixed methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods of research. A sample population of 300 respondents including palliative beneficiaries, policymakers and civil society organizations were used for data collection. Structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data which were analyzed using SPSS 23, the results were presented in tabular form and qualitative data were collected with in-depth interviews analyzed using Nvivo software. The study reveals that 76% of the respondents think that the allocation of welfare in Nigeria is being driven by political agendas, not socio-economic needs of the masses. 82% of those who responded say political leaders and politicians use demographic E-ISSN 2504-883X P-ISSN 2695 2432 profiling to gain greater control over patronage networks and influence voters, especially prior to elections. Moreover, 69% of the respondents expressed worries about the fairness and long-term sustainability of the current welfare scheme. The study suggests the need to establish transparent systems, independent monitoring institutions and institutional reforms to improve the delivery of palliatives in a need- and equity-sensitive manner.

Keywords

Palliativesdemographic targetingpolitical strategywelfare allocationelectoral influence.

References

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Palliatives or Political Tools? Investigating the Role of Demographic Targeting in Welfare Allocation in Nigeria

Abstract

Keywords

References

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