Human Capital Development and Poverty in Nigeria

This study investigated the impact of human capital development on poverty level in Nigeria. The authors utilized annual time series data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, UNESCO data update and World Development Indicators which covered the period of 1990 to 2023. These data were analyzed using Autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) model with poverty rate (POV) being the dependent variable while government expenditure on education (GEE), government expenditure on health (GEH), school enrollment rate (SER), life expectancy rate (LER), literacy rate (LIR) and mortality rate (MOR) were the independent variables. Based on the objective of the study, the results revealed that government’s expenditure on education and health cannot directly influence or impact poverty level, but can affect poverty level indirectly through some sub-component factors and linkages. These sub-component factors or linkages are the human indices; namely literacy rate, life expectancy rate and mortality rate. Consequently, all the human indices i.e literacy rate, life expectancy rate and mortality rate conformed to apriori expectation and were statistically significant in affecting poverty level in Nigeria within the study period. From the foregoing, the study posits that an increase in government’s expenditure on education and health will directly influence poverty level if such policies are complemented with well-established institutional frameworks to monitor and ensure that such expended funds are not diverted by corrupt public office holders, but spent judiciously on its intended purpose.