ABSTRACT
Politics has been repeatedly implicated in the character and reach of social protection policies in Africa. This chapter analyses the social assistance programme 'In Care of the People' (COPE), which provides cash transfers to needy households in Nigeria. The scheme requires beneficiaries to ensure that their children of school age attend school regularly; pregnant women attend regular antenatal clinics; and children under five years are immunised and taken to clinics regularly. The chapter elaborates the context of cash transfer programmes, followed by an examination of the policy and legal framework of Cash Transfer (CT). It also discusses Nigerian government's financial commitment to social assistance and cash transfer, followed by a description of the COPE programme, its objectives, operation, coverage and implications. The chapter also explores the partisan politics and intergovernmental relations of cash transfer. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is socially and culturally diverse, with more than 250 ethnic groups equally divided between the Muslim and Christian faiths.
