Abstract
<p><em>Poverty in Nigeria has been described as pervasive owing to the fact that the nation has witnessed a persistent increase in poverty level over the years. More so, there has been a renewed and growing concern about poverty and income inequality due to their negative implications for both economic growth and social peace. In Nigeria, the twin issues of poverty and inequitable income distribution present a paradox. This is because, though the country is rich in land, human and natural resources, yet 70 percent of Nigerians are still considered poor with low per capital income. More so, it has been argued that income inequality is a manifestation as well as strong cause of poverty. The study therefore analyses the empirical relationship between manifestation of income inequality and poverty prevalence among households in selected North Central States in Nigeria. This study employed survey method using structured questionnaire. A representative sample of 600 respondents was planned for the survey in order to have at least 462 households responding. However, the study has 501 household respondents representing 84 percent success rate. The result shows that 84 percent households believe that income inequality is a major determinant of poverty in Nigeria and 76 percent also agreed that poverty occur most in rural area than urban areas. It was found that a disproportionate share in income across divide would exacerbate poverty among rural dwellers particularly farmers, artisans, and traders. The study therefore recommends a deliberate policy of reducing income inequality so as to reduce the incidence of poverty especially among the rural dwellers.</em><em></em></p>
Highlights
There has been a renewed and growing concern about increasing poverty and income inequality both within and across countries and their negative implications for both growth and social peace (Bourguignon, Fournier, & Gurgand, 1998; Birsall, 2005)
Presentation and Discussion of Result This section presents the result and analysis of data collected from survey from field survey. 4.1 Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Population under the Study The data employed in this study constituted mainly of primary data from survey conducted in thirty local government areas across the three selected North Central states of Kogi, Niger and FCT-Abuja; and other relevant secondary data obtained from various sources
In Nigeria poverty is multi-faceted and it incorporates economic, social, cultural and political dimensions. As such achieving an appreciable rate of poverty reduction through equitable income distribution within a reasonable time requires commitments of both government and society in general. 5.2 Recommendations Arising from the preceding empirical findings, the following policy implications can be deduced. i
Summary
There has been a renewed and growing concern about increasing poverty and income inequality both within and across countries and their negative implications for both growth and social peace (Bourguignon, Fournier, & Gurgand, 1998; Birsall, 2005). In Nigeria, the twin’s issue of poverty and inequality income distribution presents a paradox. This is so because, though the country is rich in land, human and natural resources, the people are still considered to be poor, as nearly 70 percent of Nigerian in 1999 were living in poverty (Soludo, 2006). The scenario has become increasingly worrisome because poverty and income inequality are shown to have been closely related (UNU/WIDER, 2000; Kocenikov & Shorrocks, 2003). Most work in Nigeria focuses on income inequality and growth It was against this background that this study was undertaken to investigate the empirical relationship between manifestation of income inequality and poverty prevalence among household in selected North Central States of Nigeria. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the manifestation of income inequality and poverty prevalence
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