Why Nigeria should never have a welfare state

Many european countries run social systems. This means that everyone in the country is basically guaranteed a minimum income, a place to live and enough food to survive. I believe that this should never happen in Nigeria.

Why?

A social state is not only positive. It has some very strong negatives as well. First of all, the first victim of social economies is the family. When the state takes care of people, then people no longer need families, and families disintegrate very quickly. A core part of Nigerian culture is the strength and largeness of the family. A social system would destroy that.

A social state is very very expensive. It’s impossible to run without people paying 50% or more of their salaries to the central government to redistribute. I do not think Nigerians are prepared to do this or want this.

Then there is the tribal issue. Nigerians are not a single block of people which are interchangeable. Nigeria is made up of tribes, and a system where the Government is collecting money and resharing among people will almost certainly lead to inter-tribal blame laying. The strongest social states are usually the most anti-foreigner, and not only would Nigerians become anti-foreigner, but they would also get more tribalistic internally.

The next point is the transition into a social state. Nigeria has a large population of people who are unable to be very productive due to their educational background and their unwillingness to move to another area. If a welfare state were created, these people would instantly benefit, and would have to be supported by all the hard-working nigerians. This would be an unsustainable situation, and it would create welfare dependent cultures in places (for example, in villages).

And finally, social services kill the drive to succeed. Nigerians are agressive businessmen, and that is what will drive all future development. Guaranteeing anincome will kill that drive completely.

At the moment, the form of social services that exist in Nigeria are basically through family and through subsistence farming. People who are at poverty level either go to a village to farm, or they survive through support by families.

I believe that rather than Government ever getting involved in welfare, private individuals should be encouraged to give to private welfare institutions, preferably organized by churches and other religious leaders. This will preserve unique Nigerian traditions, while still ensuring that the poorest of society have enough to live on.