Impact Of Inequality In Nigeria

Inequality is multidimensional in nature and is concerned with variation in the standard of living across a population. Therefore it encompasses inequalities in opportunities and inequalities in outcomes. Therefore inequality in Nigeria is a situation in which there are few good jobs, low purchasing power for those employed and poor income. Theres also poor infrastructure and institutional failure in key sectors including education, transportation and health. Sometime in September 2012, one of the Africa’s wealthiest men Aliko Dangote, caused an upset uproar with the announcement that he was offering to pay graduates willing to drive trucks half a million Naira monthly. Meanwhile the average truck driver

It showed that 96million Nigerians have just 20% purchasing power in the country, what this means is that inequality is soaring and Nigeria known as the giant of Africa suddenly seems helpless. Therefore despite the economic growth, inequality grows continuously. Inequality in Nigeria is a thoroughly contentious problem. The difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ can be seen all too clearly, with the luxurious lifestyles of a few people among the poor. Inequality is closely related to the issue of poverty but the two issues should be looked at separately because ultimately the issue of inequality is not limited by poverty, inequality still exists in countries with low levels of

This is so because, though the country is rich in land, natural and human resources, the people are still considered to be poor, as nearly 70% of Nigerians in 1999 were living in poverty (FOS, 1999; Okojie, et al 2000; World Bank 2000; Soludo, 2006), while the incidence of poverty has remained relatively high, hovering around 54% between 2005 and 2009 (CBN, 2009). Per Capita income by 2000 was still around the same level as in 1965 and in between, Nigeria 's cumulative revenues from oil (after deducting the payments to the foreign oil companies) have amounted to about US$350 billion at 1995 prices (Salai-Martin and Subramanian, 2003). Worse still, the problems of poverty in Nigeria are multi-faceted, among which are widespread outbreak of AIDS pandemic, lack of access to good health facilities, lack of essential infrastructure, high infant mortality rate , unemployment and, corruption, e.t.c. In the past few years, Nigerian government has spent extremely large sum of money both at the state, federal and Local Government levels in vain attempts at the relief of poverty by coming up and executing several poverty resolution programs, However, many of the people who are put in charge of such programs have been