History of the Institute of Social Policy
The Institute of Social Policy, University of Nigeria Nsukka, was established by the University’s Senate on her 416th Meeting in October 2023. The establishment was a high point in the existing collaboration of the University and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). In 2018, the University of Nigeria (UNN) signed a partnership agreement with UNICEF, specifically under the Social Policy component. As UNICEF perspicuously crafted it, “the Social Policy component of UNICEF work provides cross-cutting support at federal and state levels for social protection, research and evidence generation on child poverty, support for public investment in children, and decentralization. To this end, UNICEF collaborates with the Academia to generate evidence that continues to inform policy dialogues, advocacy efforts, as well as programme redesign, planning and implementation.”
The partnership was then anchored in the Department of Public Administration and Local Government of the Unveirsity. Professor Chikelue Ofuebe was appointed the Director of UNICEF-supported programmes and projects in the University. Further to this, the UNICEF and UNN conceived the idea of the exigency and necessity for postgraduate Social Policy programmes in Nigerian Universities, and organized a Consultative Forum for University Policy Makers comprising Vice-Chancellors, Deans of Postgraduate Schools and Deans of Faculties of Social Sciences drawn from twelve universities (two Universities in each geo-political zone of the country), at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, from Monday, September 10 to Friday, September 14 2018, to interrogate the idea and take a stand as each University deems fit. The Forum appreciated the identified manpower gap in the country in the area of social policy programming, as only one University in the country runs a professional Master of Social Policy, and agreed that postgraduate degree programmes in Social Policy, namely Postgraduate Diploma (PGD), professional Master in Social Policy (MSP), and Master of Science (M.Sc), would be a worthwhile idea for the Universities and recommended their introduction in respective institutions as appropriate.
In recognition of the urgency and importance of this decision, UNICEF supported the UNN to hold a successful Workshop at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, where scholars of academic achievements and wealth of experience in the academia, were invited to join an erudite team of other professionals to assist in developing a draft curriculum for Postgraduate Degree Programmes in Social Policy for further necessary action. As a result, the University of Nigeria formalized the postgraduate degree programmes in Social Policy, offering Postgraduate Diploma (PGD), professional Master of Social Policy (MSP), and Master of Science in Social Policy (M.Sc) in the Deaprtment of Public Adminisitration in 2018.
Arising from the successful take-off of the PGD, MSP and M.Sc programmes in Social Policy, the quest for higher knowledge in Social Policy embedded in practice and research motivated UNN to inaugurate a team of University academics, representatives from the National Universities Commission (NUC) and social policy experts to develop a curriculum for Ph.D in Social Policy from 24th to 30th September, 2023 at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, Nigeria, with support from UNICEF. With the programme fully developed, The University Senate in its 416th Meeting in October 2023 approved the establishment of the Institute of Social Policy to provide a more focused unit to run the social policy programmes. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Charles Arizechukwu Igwe graciously appointed Professor Okey Marcellus Ikeanyibe to pioneer the take-off of the Institute from the 2023/2024 Academic session. The UNN is grateful to UNICEF for organizing a series of training programmes for lecturers of the institution in concerted efforts to enhance their knowledge in Social Policy, promoting inclusion and contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Here is the videos of the launching of the Institute….