ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the realities of old age poverty in Nigeria and analyses how the failure to provide social protection to the elderly as a human right undermines the ability of the elderly – defined as anyone 60 years and above – to gain access to basic social and economic needs. It outlines a necessary conceptual framework that links the concepts of poverty, social protection, and human rights. The chapter analyses the local realities of old age poverty, social protection, and the failures of state actors and institutions to provide for the elderly in Africa generally, and Nigeria in particular. It discusses the imperative of addressing old age poverty with human rights approaches to social protection for the elderly in Nigeria. The chapter argues that without adequate social protection programs that are rights-based for the elderly, many elderly people will continue to experience poverty in their old age.
