ActionAid Nigeria has urged the federal government to urgently implement a comprehensive social protection programme to provide a safety net for the country’s most vulnerable.

Andrew Mamedu, ActionAid Nigeria’s country director, made the call in a statement on Tuesday.

Mr Mamedu said initiatives were needed to create decent and sustainable employment opportunities, particularly for youths and women. He said a comprehensive social programme included price controls to help stabilise prices and ensure that essential goods remained accessible to all Nigerians.

Reacting to a recent Human Development Report ranking Nigeria as 161 out of 193 countries globally with an HD Index (HDI) value as low as 0.548, he said the figure painted a harrowing picture of global regression in human development.

Mr Mamedu, who called for urgent reform to improve Nigeria’s human development crisis, demanded immediate action to address the nation’s dire realities.

He said despite Nigeria’s vast natural resources and higher GDP compared to Libya and South Africa, its HDI remain comparatively low.

Mr Mamedu, who identified the National Multidimensional Poverty Index as 0.257, indicated that poor people in the country experience just over one-quarter of all possible deprivations.

The country director, however, urged the federal government, as the custodians of the nation’s future, to act decisively and swiftly.

According to him, failure to act will condemn millions of Nigerians to a future of perpetual suffering and despair.

(NAN)