Democratic Governance and Social Welfare for Older Adults in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
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Date
2026-03-31
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Department Of Political Science, University Of Ilorin, Nigeria
Abstract
In the evolving trajectory of Nigerian democratic government, many
older adults are mired in the wake of poor or severe fracture of social
welfare services necessary for good living and optimal functioning at a
later stage of one’s life. This paper examined democratic governance
and social welfare services for older adults in Nigeria’s fourth republic
(that is, 1999 to date). The social contract theory was adopted as the
theoretical framework. The study was purely qualitative and relied
more on data gathered from secondary sources such as textbooks,
Journal articles, internet materials, conference papers, policy
documents, and others. The findings revealed that lack of a
comprehensive and workable social policy framework for older adults
in Nigeria, coupled with the persistent increase in bureaucratic
corruption and a flamboyant/expensive political system and democracy,
were the underlying factors to this unsavoury development. This has
resulted in an increase in poverty level, inequality, and debt profile
among Nigerian older adults, as they no longer have confidence in the
development potential of democracy. The paper therefore
recommended, amongst other things, the urgent need to review the
national constitution and articulate a workable social policy framework
for older adults in both formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian
economy, declare an emergency on the war against corruption in public
institutions and trim down the cost of governance.
Description
Keywords
Democracy, Fourth Republic, Governance, Older Adult, Social Welfare.