NEXUS BETWEEN GROWTH, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA: EVIDENCE FROM THE DATA
Angbas, Jonathan Avreson & Ovye Alfred Angbas
Department of Economics
Nasarawa State University, Keffi
Email: avrenab@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Against the background of the fact that global poverty rates have worsened over the years, the United Nations in its global development agenda for the next fifteen years plans to eliminate extreme global poverty. The fight against poverty and inequality through inclusive growth has thus emerged as a frontal issue in both economic, social and political discourse leading to the United Nations adoption of the global goals of sustainable development. It believes that eliminating the incidence of poverty, hunger and attaining optimum health in a sustainable manner for the population should be a global consensus that needs to be embraced by all nations. Though several nations have made progress in their attempt to grow, this has not impacted much on poverty reduction due to the fact that growth has not been inclusive. Using an ex-post facto research design analyzed through an auto regressive distributed lag model and co integration equation, this study finds that there is a weak long run relationship between growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction in Nigeria. There is also only a uni-directional causality between the human development index and sustainable development which has further heightened inequality worsening the poverty index of the country. This suggests that growth has not been substantial and inclusive enough to reduce the rate of poverty. There is an urgent need to re-structure public policy to focus on inclusive growth through increased access to the means of production which targets the largest proportion of the population. This is capable of lifting them out of the scourge of poverty and ensure that the country attains the global goal of total elimination of poverty and zero hunger as enunciated by the United Nations in its global development agenda. This must however be balanced against the efficient and prudent use of natural resources through sustainability for the present while considering future generations through preservation and conservation.
