Corruption and Poverty: The Nigerian Experience (1999–2021)

Authors

  • Bunmi Israel Arema
  • Kasie Emmanuel Ofoezie
  • Benjamin Badejo Omoniyi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59573/emsj.7(2).2023.13

Keywords:

Corruption, Poverty, Economic Growth

Abstract

The twin menace of corruption and poverty in Nigeria has been limiting the nation’s economic progress. This study, therefore, investigated the relationship between corruption and poverty in Nigeria with the objective of assessing their trends between 1999–2021 and investigating the relationship between them. The paper used both descriptive and inferential statistics. The stationarity properties of the variables of interest were assessed. Four (4) models were estimated in the paper. The paper found out that poverty has a positive and statistically significant impact on corruption in Nigeria while the impact of corruption on poverty is negative. This negative impact is not statistically significant. It was, therefore, recommended that governments at both the federal and state levels should concentrate more of their efforts on eradicating poverty in Nigeria through increase in economic growth, reduction in inflation and unemployment. In the face of rising level of poverty, every effort to fight corruption will be futile.

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Published

2023-06-20

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