Extended Family Care: The Neglected Alternative Social Security Practice in Nigeria

The family is the building block and foundation of every society all over the world. The rich, poor, young and old depend on the family for bonding and social security especially at old age. The family is therefore indispensable to the socioeconomic and psychological wellbeing of human being especially in African societies. This paper attempts to explore ways the extended family can be strengthened and empowered to be an alternative social security to Nigerians. The paper specifically examines ways the extended family can fill the gap of inadequate social security Nigerians presently experience because of lack of formal social insurance and social security administration put in place by the governments at federal and state level. The position of the paper is that the legal and formal recognition and empowerment of the extended family will drastically reduce destitution and squalor; ensure longevity and trigger grassroots sustainable development that have eluded Nigeria since independence.