MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY AND INEQUALITY IN NIGERIA, USING THE FIRST ORDER DOMINANCE APPROACH

This paper examines issues surrounding the paradox of rising poverty amid high economic growth in Nigeria. The Nigerian economy in recent times has recorded substantial growth, even during the global financial crisis, ranking Nigeria as one of the fastest growing economies globally. In spite of this strong growth performance, poverty remains widespread. The study used 3002, 3002 and 3002 Demographic and Health Survey data of Nigeria. Questionnaires were also administered to authentic the welfare indicators used in the study. First order dominance approach was used to measure poverty and inequality across three population groups in Nigeria (household heads, women age 30 – 94 years, and children age 0 – 5 years) with different non-monetary indicators such as access to education, health, attitude and occurrence of domestic violence etc. The FOD results were compared across religious groups, ethnic groups, zones, states, urban/rural and National. These figures showed more robust comparison as compared with other multidimensional approaches like (global MPI, FGT). This work makes a distinct contribution to the literature of multidimensional poverty and inequality in Nigeria as few studies exist on this subject matter. It recommended that focus should be placed on structural transformation through poverty alleviation programmes, genuine commitment to good governance, fight against corruption, provision of social protection, inclusive growth, employment generation, and bridging income gap within the economy.