Assessment of poverty incidence in Northern Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The rate of poverty in the Northern region of Nigeria is quite alarming despite the enormous resources the region is endowed. The region has fertile land with varied agricultural products and other resources such as tin, barite, zinc, limestone, columbite, lead and gypsum. Despite these numerous resources, the region has the highest population of people in extreme poverty with violence and high crime rate. These necessitate investigation into the extreme poverty in the region. The aim of this study is to attempt an in-depth conceptual exposition on how the political and economic system has contributed to the high rates of multidimensional poverty in Nigeria, with more focus on the Northern region of the country. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to understand the reasons for the complex poverty situation in Nigeria. Also, to investigate the trends of poverty in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria with more focus on the Northern zones of the country. In addition, to determine whether the poverty intervention programs by successive governments were successful in reducing poverty in the country. To achieve this, the study considers both aggregate and disaggregate analysis of poverty in the six geopolitical zones (North East, North West, North Central, South East, South South and South West) of Nigeria with more emphases on the Northern zones. Firstly, the study analyzes poverty using per capita expenditure approach to determine the poverty level for the country. Then, the study further determines the disaggregated poverty value for the six geopolitical zones. Thereafter, the poverty level in the Northern zones was accentuated. The method of analysis used in this study is Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) P_α class poverty measure and the Cumulative Distributive Function (CDF). The Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) P_α class poverty measure is used to determine the Headcount ratio, Poverty gap and Poverty gap squared. The Cumulative Distributive Function (CDF) is also derived. The dataset used in this study is the General Household Survey (GHS-Panel) wave 1 (2010–2011) and wave 2 (2012–2013). The findings from the study showed persistent poverty in all zones but most extreme in the Northern region with little change between the waves.

KEYWORDS:

• Poverty
• economic growth
• per capita expenditure approach
• expenditure approach
• Nigeria

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.