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CHAPTER ONE
1.0. INTRODUCTION:
The dream of every nation is to evolve into that stage in which it could finally be termed
“developed”. The Nigerian economy for one is definitely not an exception. The problem of
development has continually occupied the attention of scholars, activists, politicians,
development workers, as well as, local and international organizations for many years, with
an increased tempo in the last decade. Although there are different perspectives to
development, there is a general consensus that development will lead to good change
manifested in increased capacity of people to have control over material assets, intellectual
resources and ideology; and obtain physical necessities of life-food, clothing & shelter,
employment, equality, participation in government, political and economic independence,
adequate education, gender equality, sustainable development and peace.
Human development plays a fundamental role and remains the most important factor in
economic growth and development in countries of the world. Human Development is a
development paradigm that is of more significance than the rise or fall of national incomes. It
is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead
productive and creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real
wealth of nations. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank
countries by level of “human development” and to separate countries into developed (high
development), developing (middle development), and underdevelopment (low development)
categories. . The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life
expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a
standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish

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whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to
measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.
In year 2000, a treaty christened the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was adopted
by Presidents of 189 Countries of the World at the end of the 55th session of the United
Nations General Assembly. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world’s
time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions.
They embody the deep aspirations and commitment of the global community for significant
improvements in the quality of human life (UNDP, 2009).
The closing decade of the 20th century witnessed an increase in the practice of global
development agenda setting. During this period, several international summits and
conferences were held around the world on the need for countries to evolve strategies to
achieve certain benchmarks on various aspects of development. These international
conferences and summits included the children summit held in New York in 1990, the
Education summit held in Jomiten, Thailand, the summit of the earth held in Rio de Janeiro in
1992, the international population conference held in Egypt, the women’s conference held in
Beijing, china in 1995.
These conferences prompted and climaxed with the United Nations Millennium summit held
in September 2000 by 189 member states including Nigeria, in which the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) were set. The eight time-bound goals that were set relate to
poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, environmental protection, maternal health
care, child health care and global partnership. The goals and targets that are to be achieved by
the year 2015 were set on the basis of the global situation in the last decade of the 20th
century. In particular, this decade for Nigeria was low, volatile and turbulent.

3. 3
The MDGs, set to be achieved by 2015, provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling
extreme poverty in its many dimensions. The MDGs also provide a framework for the entire
international community to work together towards a common end thus making sure that
human development reaches everyone, everywhere. If according to the agreement, these
goals were achieved, poverty globally will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be
saved, and billions of people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy.
The eight MDGs are broken down into quantifiable targets that are measured by indicators.
The millennium development goals and their target are outlined as follows:
 Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
o Target 1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose
income is less than one dollar a day
o Target 2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer
from Hunger
 Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education
o Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will
be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
 Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women
o Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education,
preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015
 Goal 4. Reduce child mortality
o Target 5. Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five
mortality rate
 Goal 5. Improve maternal health
o Target 6. Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal

4. 4
mortality ratio
 Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
o Target 7. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
o Target 8. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria
and other major diseases.
 Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability
o Target 9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country
policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources
o Target 10. Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access
to safe drinking water
o Target 11. By 2020 to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of
at least 100 million slum dwellers
 Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for development
o Target 12. Develop further, an open rule-based, predictable, non-
discriminatory trading and financial system.
o Target 13. Address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries.
o Target 14. Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and
small island developing states.
o Target 15. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing
countries through national and international measures in order to make debt
sustainable in the long term.
o Target 16. In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement
strategies for decent and productive work for youth.
o Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to
affordable essential drugs in developing countries.

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o Target 18. In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits
of new technologies, especially information and communication.
However, for the purpose of this research, attention will be focused on the MDGs in relation
to human development.
1.1. BACKGROUND TO STUDY
About 11 Years ago, leaders from every country agreed on a vision for the future, a world
with less poverty, hunger and diseases, greater survival prospects for mothers and their
infants, better educated children, equal opportunities, for women and a healthier environment,
a world in which developed and developing countries worked in partnership for the
betterment of all.
This vision took the form and shape of eight millennium development goals, which are
providing countries around the world with a frame work for development and time bound
targets by which progress can be measured. The goals were based on the rational assumption
that all persons desire basic human rights and living standards.
However, with only about four years to 2015, many countries are still far from achieving the
MDGs. But speaking at the last United Nations Summit, the United Nations Secretary-
General, Ban Ki-Moon stated that although many countries were still very far from achieving
the MDGs he was optimistic that they had set up recoverable frameworks for achieving these
goals. In fact, President Barrack Obama clearly stated that United States would promote
incentives for economic growth over food or financial aid, and encourage countries to come
up with practical policies for achieving the MDGs. Similarly, other countries are strategizing,
building blocs and galvanizing support to achieve the MDGs.

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The pertinent question in the light of the above is: how far has Nigeria gone towards attaining
the MDGs knowing fully well that Nigeria became a signatory to the Millennium Declaration
in a bid to tackle poverty in the land?
Unfortunately, looking at many indicators for measuring progress towards the MDGs,
Nigeria is not anywhere near achieving the MDGs. A recent United Nations report confirms
Nigeria as having the second highest number of maternal deaths in the world after India. One
of the targets of the MDGs is to improve maternal health and reduce maternal deaths by 75%
by the year 2015. Unfortunately the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in Nigeria is still
scandalously high. Nigeria still occupies an unenviable position in the "league table" of the
countries with those living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The various Human Development
Index (HDI) reports continue to place Nigeria on the last rung of the global development
ladder. Life expectancy in Nigeria has drastically reduced to 45; real income of most families
has woefully reduced; unemployment has gone overboard. Nigeria is topping the list of
countries with malnourished children; Nigeria's literacy rate is still low. Nigeria is ranked as
the 20th hungriest country on the Global Hunger Index (GHI); Nigeria is pitiably named
among the countries with the highest number of illiterates. Human development is the
epicentre of all developments. Human beings are the wealth of a nation. Therefore, if the
citizens of Nigeria lack access to the basic necessities of life in the 21st century; if they are
denied electricity supply or denied access to primary healthcare in the 21st century, if citizens
are still dying of common cholera. If women still die at child birth in the 21st century
essentially due to lack of access to qualitative health care, then it is a very big shame to the
government and an indication that there is still a bulk of work to be done if we must meet our
2015 MDG target.

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1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.
It is expected that with about three years to the end of the target period (2015), Nigeria would
be on course towards attaining the Millennium development goals (MDGS). Unfortunately,
this is not the case as assessments have shown. According to the recently-concluded United
Nations Summit, many countries, Nigeria inclusive are far from achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. Can we really meet these goals? Can we
reduce poverty and hunger by at least 50%? Can we ensure that, by 2015, children
everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling?
Can we promote gender equality and empower women? Can we reduce child mortality and
improve maternal health? Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases? Ensure
environmental sustainability? Can we develop a global partnership and deal comprehensively
with the problem of debts? And most importantly, will the attainment of these goals have a
significant impact on human development in the Nigerian economy? These are the underlying
problems which the study seeks to tackle.
1.3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.
The objectives of carrying out this research study include the following:
1. To determine the impact of the MDGs on human development.
2. To examine the relationship between the MDGs and human development.
3. To analyse the current status of Nigeria as regards her meeting the Millennium
Development Goals.
4. To seek and recommend various methods by which these goals can be met.

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1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.
1. How far has Nigeria progressed towards the attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals?
2. Are there factors hindering the attainment of these goals? If yes, how can these
factors be eliminated?
3. Would Nigeria be able to meet these goals by 2015? What steps could be taken in
order to accelerate the attainment of these goals?
4. Do the MDGs have any significant impact on human development in the Nigerian
economy?
1.5. HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY.
H0: The MDGs have no significant impact on human development in the Nigerian economy.
H1: The MDGs have a significant impact on human development in the Nigerian economy.
1.6. JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY.
The greatest constraints to development in Nigeria are deeply entrenched poverty,
unemployment and the accumulation of debt. The purpose of this study therefore, is to
examine the prospects of the attainment of the United Nations millennium development
goals, by 2015 and at the same time, sensitize the country and other relevant organisations on
the need to brace up to the challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals as it is
imperative for human development in the economy. Constructive critique braces, while praise
dulls the recipient. No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit
from development.

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1.7. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF STUDY.
The study is centred on the Nigeria economy. It considers the situation of the country before
the millennium when the MDGS were set, and also looks at the post millennium years during
which various steps are being taken to attain these goals. That is, the period of study spans
from 2000-2009.
The limitations to the study are:
1. Time constraint.
2. Financial constraint.
3. Non-availability of comprehensive, verifiable and up-to-date data.

10. 10
REFERENCES.
Az-Zubair A, (2010), Nigeria millennium development goals report. Government of the
Federal republic of Nigeria.
Igbuzor O, (2006), The millennium development goals: Can Nigeria meet the goals in
2015? A paper presented at a symposium on millennium development goals and
Nigeria: issues, challenges and prospects. Institute of chartered accountants (ICAN),
Abuja.
Mutasa C, (2005): The politics of the MDGs and Nigeria: A critical appraisal of the global
partnership for development, African forum and network on debt and development.
(AFRODAD)
National economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) (2004). Abuja,
National planning commission.
Shetty, Salil (2005), Millennium declaration and development goals: Opportunities for
human rights in international journal on human rights, year 2, number 2.
The Nigerian journal of development studies (2009) vol. 7. no. 1, institute of development
studies, university of Nigeria, Enugu campus Nigeria.
UNDP (2003), Human development report 2003-millenium development goals: A
compact among nations to end human poverty. New York, oxford university press.
World bank (2001), World development report 2000/2001: Attacking poverty. N.Y.,
oxford university press inc.

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CHAPTER TWO.
2.0. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.
The principal objective of Nigeria's economic development has been to achieve stability,
material prosperity, peace and social progress. Nevertheless, a variety of problems have
persisted, slowing the country's growth and attainment of development objectives. These
include inadequate human development, inefficient agricultural systems, weak infrastructure,
lacklustre growth in the manufacturing sector, a poor policy and regulatory environment, and
mismanagement and misuse of resources. While growth has improved significantly in the last
seven years, on average by about 6 per cent, this growth has often not improved everyday
livelihoods. Furthermore, the country is among those with the highest levels of inequality in
the world. This inequality reflects widening gaps in income and gender access to economic
and social opportunities; growing inequality between and within rural and urban populations;
and widening gaps between economies in different parts of the federation. Az-Zubair (2010).
Building on the United Nations global conferences of the 1990s, the United Nations
Millennium Declaration of 2000 marked a global partnership for creating an environment
conducive, at the national and global level, to the elimination of poverty and the promotion of
sustainable human development. The aims of this work are encapsulated in the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are the world's time bound and quantified targets
for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions – income poverty, hunger, disease,
inadequate housing – while promoting gender equality, education and environmental
sustainability. The MDGs share common notions with Nigeria's own development vision, as
enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Under the section
'Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy', the Constitution stipulates
that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. It

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goes on to say that the state shall ensure that suitable and adequate shelter and food, a
reasonable national minimum living wage, old-age care and pensions, and unemployment
benefits are provided for the citizens. Economic development plans, policies and programmes
are designed and implemented by national and state governments with the aim of achieving
these development goals. While the MDGs are country-level targets for sustainable human
development, state governments play a pivotal role in achieving them. In Nigeria, state and
local governments have considerable autonomy in economic policy and fiscal matters. The
three levels of government (federal, state and local) share responsibility for public policies
and services crucial to the achievement of the MDGs. In principle, Nigeria's state and local
governments are closer to the grassroots in providing basic services, so their actions or
inactions impact directly upon the MDGs. So Nigeria's 2015 MDG targets cannot be
achieved unless state and local governments take on their development responsibilities in a
proactive, coordinated, effective and sustained way. Az-Zubair (2010).
Nigeria has a lot of potentials, which are enough for it to compete favourably with the
countries of the G-7, namely; France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States
and Canada. This view has been strongly supported by reports of the Goldman Sachs (2007),
Soludo (2007), NEEDS, (2004), Vision Report (1997) and a host of others. In a study,
NEEDS (2004) noted that, Nigeria has the potential to become Africa’s largest economy and
a major player in the global economy by virtue of its rich human and material resource
endowment, while Goldman Sachs (2007) argues that in the whole of African continent only
two countries have the potentials to be among the G-20 by 2020 and these countries are
Egypt and Nigeria. (United Nations, 2009).
The situation of MDG in Nigeria can be seen from two main sources: the Nigeria MDG
report 2004 and the Nigeria MDG report 2005. We can also assess the situation from MDG

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office especially the Debt Relief Gains as provided in the 2006 annual budget. The 2004
report which was Nigeria’s first report on the MDGs states that “based on available
information it is unlikely that the country will be able to meet most of the goals by 2015
especially the goals related to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child and
maternal mortality and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases” Millennium
Development Goals Report (2004). The Nigeria Millennium Development Goals 2005 report
is the second in the series of annual reports on the MDGs in Nigeria. The report which
addressed the eight MDGs highlights the current status and trends of each of the MDGs, the
challenges and opportunities in attaining the goal, the promising initiatives that are creating a
supportive environment and priorities for development assistance. The report concludes that:
There is high potential to attain some of the Millennium Development Targets namely,
 Achieving universal primary education
 Ensuring environmental stability
 Developing a global partnership for development
Given the current policy environment and strong political will, there is also the likelihood of
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The conclusion of the MDG 2005 report is very
remarkable and gives hope that there is possibility for achieving all the MDGs in Nigeria
with sustained effort. This conclusion is quite different from the conclusions reached by the
first report in 2004. It is intriguing that without providing the basis and reason for the
dramatic change, the 2005 states that there is high potential to achieve 3 of the goals (Goals
2,7 and 8) likelihood to achieve one with strong political will(Goal 1) and the need for
sustained efforts to ensure that the country meets the remaining four goals(Goals 3,4,5, and 6)
Igbuzor (2006).

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Three global developments have potentially critical implications for Nigeria's prospects for
achieving the MDGs: The global financial crisis, climatic change and food price inflation.
The global financial crisis has had an effect on Nigeria, mainly through lower oil revenues,
the drying-up of credit and weaker flows of private capital. The crisis has underlined the need
to accelerate diversification of the economy and strengthen fiscal management. The global
economic crisis has slowed the pace of poverty reduction in developing countries, and is
hampering progress toward the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Nigeria is acutely vulnerable to climate change. The impacts in each ecological zone will be
different. The effects of climate change threaten progress on all the MDGs. However, if well
managed, measures to deal with the effects of climate change provide important opportunities
for ensuring more sustainable progress.
At its peak in 2008, food price inflation was over 20 per cent creating difficulties for many
Nigerians. However, this was not the first such episode and a number of factors cushioned the
impact, such as the diversity of staple crops grown in the country. Agricultural development
remains the best protection against future food price crises. Igbuzor (2006)
The crisis is having an impact in several key areas of the MDGs, including those related to
hunger, child and maternal health, gender equality, access to clean water, and disease control
and will continue to affect development prospects well beyond 2015. As a result of the crisis,
53 million more people will remain in extreme poverty by 2015 than otherwise would have.
Even so, the report projects that the number of extreme poor could total around 920 million
five years from now, marking a significant decline from the 1.8 billion people living in
extreme poverty in 1990. Global Monitoring Report (2010).
It is important to point out that there are limitations of utilizing the MDGs as a framework for
delivering or measuring development. ( Abani, C., Igbuzor, O. and Moru, J. 2005). First, they

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risk simplifying what development is about, by restricting the goals to what is measurable.
Many aspects of development cannot be easily measured. Secondly, some of the goals are
very modest e.g. the goal to half the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day by 2015
and the target to achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum
dwellers by 2020. Finally, some of the targets do not address the problems holistically. For
instance, the MDG on education talks only of a full course of primary schooling with no
reference to secondary and tertiary education.
Despite the limitations mentioned above, it is necessary for us to engage the MDGs for many
reasons. First, the MDGs draw together in a single agenda, issues that require priority to
address the development question. Secondly, the MDGs have received tremendous
endorsement and backing by world’s governments. Thirdly, the MDGs have the advantage
being more or less measurable, few in number, concentrated on human development and
focused almost on a single date-2015. Another advantage of the MDGs is that it adds urgency
and transparency to international development. Finally, explicit resource commitments have
been made to achieve the MDGs.
2.1 CONCEPT OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.
Human Development is a development paradigm that is of more significance than the rise or
fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop
their full potential and lead productive and creative lives in accord with their needs and
interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the
choices people have to lead lives that they value. Therefore, much more than economic
growth which is only means of enlarging people’s choices. Human development is related to
economics and standards of living. Adediran (2007).
The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP). These were devised and launched by Pakistani

16. 16
economist Mahbub ul Haq in 1990 and had the explicit purpose "to shift the focus of
development economics from national income accounting to people centred policies". To
produce the Human Development Reports, Mahbub ul Haq brought together a group of well-
known development economists including: Paul Streeten, Frances Stewart, Gustav Ranis,
Keith Griffin, Sudhir Anand and Meghnad Desai. But it was Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s
work on capabilities and functionings that provided the underlying conceptual framework.
Haq was sure that a simple composite measure of human development was needed in order to
convince the public, academics, and policy-makers that they can and should evaluate
development not only by economic advances but also improvements in human well-being.
Sen initially opposed this idea, but he went on to help Haq develop the Human Development
Index (HDI). Sen was worried that it was difficult to capture the full complexity of human
capabilities in a single index but Haq persuaded him that only a single number would shift the
attention of policy-makers from concentration on economic to human well-being. Sakiko
(2003), United Nations Development Programme (1999).
Human capital refers to the stock of competences, knowledge and personality attributes
embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value. It is the attribute
gained by a worker through education and experience. Many early economic theories refer to
it simply as workforce, one of three factors of production, and consider it to be a fungible
resource – homogeneous and easily interchangeable. Other conceptions of labour dispense
with these assumptions. Human capital theory predicts that more educated individuals are
more productive. According to the theory, productivity of labour is high with educated
individuals and consequently they contribute far more to the level of national income and also
earn higher income than their uneducated counterparts. Furthermore, education is a good
measure of human development and the relationship between human development and

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poverty level has a significant effect on economic growth and developme b nt in some
selected countries of the world. Adediran (2007).
Human Development (HD) and Human Development Index (HDI) are powerful concepts.
The former refers to the process of empowerment in the possession of the capacity to build up
oneself so as to be able to live a long life, be able to read and write and so participate in the
societal affairs effectively and above all be gainfully employed to earn a living. The latter
merely establishes how far a country has been able to achieve this for its citizens in numerical
qualitative evidence represented by a real number. The fact is that earlier indices of
development such as per capita income and its various derivatives have not been able to
establish this effectively, especially for comparative purposes. HDI is an index fashioned out
of education, life expectancy and income in purchasing power parity.
The first Human Development Report in 1990 opened with the simply stated premise that has
guided all subsequent Reports: “People are the real wealth of a nation.” By backing up this
assertion with an abundance of empirical data and a new way of thinking about and
measuring development, the Human Development Report has had a profound impact on
development policies around the world. The 2010 Report continues the tradition of pushing
the frontiers of development thinking. For the first time since 1990, the Report looks back
rigorously at the past several decades and identifies often surprising trends and patterns with
important lessons for the future. These varied pathways to human development show that
there is no single formula for sustainable progress. In other words, no single index could ever
completely capture such a complex concept—and that impressive long-term gains can and
have been achieved even without consistent economic growth. Looking beyond 2010, this
Report surveys critical aspects of human development, from political freedom and
empowerment to sustainability and human security, and outlines a broader agenda for
research and policies to respond to these challenges.

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The new 20th Anniversary Edition of the Report revisits that original analytical exercise,
using new methodologies and international data sources, also looking back to 1970. The HDI
2010 report combines three dimensions: Longevity (a long and healthy life): measured by
Life expectancy at birth; Knowledge (access to knowledge): measured by Mean years of
schooling and Expected years of schooling; and Standard of living (decent standard of
living): measured by purchasing power based on GNI per capita (PPP US$).
Human Development Index (HDI) 2010 ranks Nigeria 142nd position out of 169th listed low
human development. Human Development (HD) concept takes into account all the products
of development including education, health etc. Hence, Policy makers and government must
be reoriented and tutored to know the enormity of the combination of HDI concept as a guide
to development effort to achieve the concept itself. Adediran (2007).
2.2. OVERVIEW OF NIGERIAN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The aftermath of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) declaration by the world leaders
in September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, pave the way for the creation
of MDG office in Nigeria. It was established as a secretariat charged with the responsibility
of executing MDGs affairs in the country, headed by Senior Special Assistant to the President
on MDGs (SSAP-MDGs). Since then it is commonly known as the MDG office,
subsequently, other offices were opened in all 36 states and they have been operating on
projects and programs down the ladder to local government. In order to intensify effort and
demonstrate government commitment, virtual poverty fund (VPF) was established to house
debt relief gains. In the year 2007, two innovative mechanisms for achieving the MDGs were
put in place; first, conditional grants scheme (CGS) to states and subsequently to local
governments to execute projects and programs. Second, social safety nets scheme. This
scheme provides cash or in-kind transfer to the poorest in the society. MDG Office (2008).
In short, MDGs refers to series of eight time bound development goals consisting of eighteen

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targets and forty-eight indicators that seek to address issues of poverty, education, gender
equality, health, environment and global partnership for development, endorsed by the
international community to be achieved by the year 2015.
In recent years, Nigeria's macroeconomic environment has improved considerably. This is in
marked contrast to the 1990s when Nigeria was considered to be among the most volatile
economies in the world. In particular, macroeconomic performance over the last five years
has been buoyed by better fiscal and debt sustainability levels and improvements in growth.
During the 1990s, growth barely reached 1 per cent, but it has now increased to, and
stabilised at, about 6 per cent since the return to democracy. The ratio of external debt to
GDP went from over 100 per cent to below 10 per cent. The situation has benefited from
higher crude oil prices, and better fiscal and macroeconomic management. MDG Report
(2010). The question of whether Nigeria can or cannot meet the MDGs is a crucial one that
should agitate the minds of politicians, government bureaucrats, civil society activists and
development workers. In our view, there is no straightforward answer. It can be answered
either in the negative or the affirmative. The NEEDS document clearly states that “if present
trend continues, the country is not likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals.” On
the other hand, the 2005 report gives the conditions for meeting the goals: strong political
will and sustained efforts. Perhaps, a better way to frame the question is what can Nigeria do
to meet the MDGs in 2015? In our view, Nigeria has sufficient resources to meet the MDGs
in 2015. But for this to happen, as argued above, the country will have to change course in
the conceptualization and implementation of policies and programmes to achieve the MDGs.
NEEDS (2004). Unfortunately, looking at many indicators for measuring progress towards
the MDGs, The various Human Development Index (HDI) reports continue to place Nigeria
on the last rung of the global development ladder. Life expectancy in Nigeria has drastically
reduced to 45; real income of most families has woefully reduced; unemployment is gone

20. 20
overboard. Nigeria is topping the list of countries with malnourished children; Nigeria's
literacy rate is still low. Nigeria is ranked as the 20th hungriest country on the Global Hunger
Index (GHI); Nigeria is pitiably named among the countries with the highest number of
illiterates. Therefore, the greatest challenge facing our government is to improve the
appalling human conditions and the standard of living in Nigeria. Human development is the
epicentre of all developments. Human beings are the wealth of a nation. Consequently, in the
coming months, the government should initiate, fine-tune or galvanize concrete recoverable
programs and projects aimed at putting Nigeria on the track to achieving the MDGs. Men of
character should be entrusted with the disbursement and utilization of development funds to
ensure accountability. (This day, 2010).
One good initiative in Nigeria designed to meet the MDGs is the Oversight of Public
Expenditure in Nigeria (OPEN) set up to monitor the Debt Relief Gain (DRG). Two issues
make this initiative unique. The first is the leadership of the process which has been
participatory, open, transparent and all inclusive with participation of private sector and civil
society. The second and perhaps most important is that systems have been put in place to
track resources. This is perhaps the model that should become the norm in every ministry,
department and agency at all levels of government. It must be however be recognized that
development is a complex issue and goes beyond allocation of Debt Relief Gains to some
MDG Ministries. A scholar once argued that development requires growth and structural
change, some measure of distributive equity, modernization in social and cultural attitudes, a
degree of political transformation and stability, an improvement in health and education so
that population growth stabilizes, and an increase in urban living and employment.
Kambhampati (2004).

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2.3 POVERTY AND HUNGER ERADICATION
Poverty and hunger are common characteristics of underdeveloped world, particularly in
Africa. They are social vices accounting for the degrading and pitiable standard of living
among the under privileged. The results are that people feel neglected, they are downhearted,
disillusioned, demoralized and often more susceptible to medical problems. ‘what would the
next few years bring for an average Nigerian in terms of poverty and hunger eradication
amidst the unprecedented age of terrorism, precarious and hostile economic and political
climates, starling and dramatic breakthrough in technology and the fast pace of globalization?
Can anything be done to stem the tide of poverty and hunger by 2015? These questions are
among the pivotal issues encapsulated in the 2015 Millennium Development Goals agenda.
Eromafuru (2009).
Poverty and deprivation are almost as old as mankind. Poverty is a threat to the growth and
development of any country. It is inimical to individual well-being, personal growth and
development. Apart from humiliating and demoralizing its victims, extreme poverty creates a
society with a pool of mediocrity, nuisance, and an unwholesome industrial climate notorious
for unprecedented wave of unemployment, indecency, crime, hunger, heartache, infidelity,
suffering, deprivations and disillusionment. It is paradoxical to note that despite the
abundance of material and human resources, millions of people particularly in developing
and transition countries, still live in abject poverty. Poverty is a serious challenge to the
Nigerian government. Ukpong as cited in Obadan(1996), has succinctly argued; ‘poverty has
earned recognition to some extent of its ravaging society and the affairs of humanity at the
international, national and local levels. The need exists for urgent actions towards its
eradication and control. Indeed, poverty is a snare. It is dehumanizing, it must be eradicated.

22. 22
The British magazine, ‘The Economist’ commented: ‘the human race has never been richer or
better armed with the medical knowledge, technological prowess, and intellectual firepower
needed to beat poverty, many though have benefitted from this know-how. The streets of the
big cities in a number of developing countries are packed with glaring new cars, shopping
malls are full of the latest gadgets, and there is no lack of people to buy them, still vast
number of people do not benefit from the wealth that some enjoy’.
Poverty continues to undermine progress in many areas. The concepts of poverty and hunger
can be akin to human identical twins having the same physical qualities. In other words when
we say poverty and hunger, one is expressing the symptoms and manifestations of the other
by extension underdevelopment. (Central Bank of Nigeria / World Bank 1991:1). In Africa,
the post military dictatorship, political instability, mismanagement and corruption
characterized colonial periods. These periods of military rule entrenched poverty and hunger
into the country as a way of life thereby making the people inaccessible to adequate health
facilities, low quality of education, low life expectancy, high infant mortality, low income,
unemployment, poor storage facilities, which further exacerbated hunger. Food production in
Africa is unstable particularly on basic foods such as cassava, rice, yam, maize, poor storage
facilities, losses in post-harvest goods, inadequate market system, poor incentives to farmers,
poor budgetary allocation to Agriculture are the ban of poverty and hunger. (Onah 2006:67-
68). African nations of which Nigeria is one are typically poor and fall towards the bottom of
any list measuring small size economy activity, such as income per capita, despite a wealth of
natural resources. Land degradation, a consequence of extensive Agriculture, deforestation
and overgrazing, has reached alarming levels and further threatens livelihoods. The poorest
people live in the isolated zones deprived of the social safety nets and poverty reduction
programmes available in semi-urban areas. (UNICEF, 5:6). The poor are those deprived,
unable and lack resources to acquire basic needs of life. They are structurally placed to be

23. 23
dependent. Poverty denies its victims the basic needs of survival and they are unable to meet
their social, economic and political obligation in the society.
The World Bank Report (1996) shows that sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria is among
the world’s poorest class of people in terms of Gross National Product (GNP) and access to
social and political life. Social statistics shows that Nigeria is the worst in terms of hunger
and poverty in sub-Sahara Africa despite the abundance of natural resources. Adding that
greater percentages of Nigerians are living below the universal poverty line of US$1 per day.
World Bank’s chief economist and senior vice president for development economics,
Richards Stern, recommend that economic growth is necessary to accelerate progress in
human development, but it is not enough. Poor countries including Nigeria are poor largely
because they have underdeveloped infrastructures and facilities health, education, agriculture,
governance at a large scale and law enforcement. They remain poor because they lack the
relevant resources and mental preparedness to overcome their development deficiencies.
The dominant characteristic of Nigeria’s human development profile is the gap in wealth
between the north and south of the country. A 2009 visit by a UK House of Commons
committee concluded that “some of the States in northern Nigeria have the worst human
development indicators of any region in the world which is not affected by conflict.”
The impact on the poor of recent years of high food and fuel prices, a squeeze on foreign aid
and falling expatriate remittances remains conjecture. The World Bank observes that “growth
has been resilient during the recent global financial crisis.” But it also estimates that there are
50 million underemployed youth in Nigeria, conceding that “strong economic growth has not
translated into higher employment rates.” (One world, 2011).
The situation of poverty in Nigeria could be linked to the theory of imperialism which
deprives its concepts from Marxists sources. In a nutshell, the wealth and poverty of nations

24. 24
resulted from the process of exploitation of the international capitalist system and its special
imperialist agents, both domestic and alien. (Galtung, 1973:6). Consequently, hunger and
poverty in Nigeria emanate from the structural imbalance of the economy, inappropriate
development agents and debt burden imposed by dependency and the global exploitation of
our resources for the development of their metropolitan countries. (Offiong, 1980:14-15). The
alarming rate of environmental degradation and its effects on employment and food
production is also traceable to these imperialist agents; particularly the domestic bourgeoisies
whose interests are programmes launched in Nigeria. Furthermore, high unemployment rate,
unaffordable basic education, inequality, insecurity, deprivation of fundamental human
rights, freedom, liberation and basic needs for human survival and crisis for constant
agitation for the resource control in the case of Niger Delta are evidence of poverty and
hunger in the land. However, as a means to eradicate poverty and hunger in Nigeria, Nigerian
government had at different times established different poverty alleviation programmes
which include: National Acceleration Food Programmes in 1972, Operation Feed the Nation
in 1976, National Directorate of Employment in 1986, National Poverty Eradication
Programme in 2000, and the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies
initiated by Obasanjo on his assumption of office in May 1999 and his second term policy in
2003.
2.3.1. CAUSES OF POVERTY AND HUNGER IN NIGERIA.
The economic malaise driving poverty in Nigeria is the failure to distribute the country’s vast
oil revenues more equitably. Inability to diversify into non-oil sectors is such that, in 2010,
oil revenues contributed 89% of exports and 65% of the national budget.
With over 200 tribal identities, Nigeria’s vast ethnic diversity demands a decentralised
structure of government administration. The challenge of efficient delivery has been
undermined by a pervasive culture of corruption. Dysfunctional government agencies at

25. 25
federal, state and local levels therefore impede poverty reduction strategies.
Demographic pressures place additional demands on both household and government
budgets. Between 2000 and 2008, population growth was 3.2% per annum, far above the
global average. Urban migration is projected to bring 60% of the total population into the
cities by 2025, fuelling the unplanned slum settlements where poverty is rife. One World
(2011).
Some other causes of poverty in Nigeria are as follows:
 Colonialism: in most African countries, the years of colonialism brought some
setback to them. The colonial masters for instance, built and structured African
economy to facilitate the expropriation of their resources for British economic
growth and development. In the process Nigeria was penetrated, dominated,
raped, exploited, distorted, and disarticulated, thereby leaving the country in
hunger, poverty and dependency. (Claude 1989:xi).
 Corruption: according to (Lipset and Lenz 2000:112), corruption is ‘effort to
secure wealth and power through illegal means’. In Nigeria, corruption has
contributed immensely to poverty and misery of a large segment of the
population, exemplified on Nigeria’s horrifying faces of despair and deprivation.
Many native groups in Nigeria believe family relationships are more important
than national identity and people in authority often used nepotism and bribery for
the benefit of their extended family group at the expense of the nation.
 Poor Leadership and Misuse of Funds: the issue of poor leadership revolves
around both military and civilian governments. Various regimes in Nigeria have
overburdened the country by borrowing substantial sums of money from
International Monetary Funds (IMF), World bank, Paris Club, etc. it is of note that

26. 26
these foreign loans are invested on weapons and the rest on personal consumption
which does not alleviate poverty. (Wikipedia, 2008)
 Flood, War and Natural Disasters: in Africa, the destruction caused by war and
natural disasters such as drought and flood often have devastating effect on the
communities. In many parts of Nigeria, the production of food depends upon the
intense manual labour of each family. The religious and ethnic conflicts that have
ravaged the country such as Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC)/Hausa and
Modakeke conflicts in the South-West, the Ijaw/Urhobo/Itsekiri conflicts in the
Niger Delta, and the Umuleri/Aguleri conflicts in the south East and the numerous
religious conflicts sweeping through the Northern part of the country, have made
per capita food production plummeted (UNICEF, 2000:5). In addition, in the
Northern part of Nigeria, farmers suffer drought from time to time while their
counterparts in the South experience flooding and erosion. These problems have
in many occasions led to massive deaths, loss of crops and animals, property, etc.
 Diseases: The greatest mortality in Nigeria arises from preventable water-borne
disease. Malaria, tuberculosis, tapeworm and dysentery often claim lives. Report
shows that HIV/AIDS contribute to the worsening poverty situation at household
level in African countries. For instance, between 12 and 14 million African adults
have died of HIV/AIDS. (World Bank/UNICEF) cited in (UNICEF, ibid).
 Culture Values: these have also helped to explain the intractability of the problems
of hunger, poverty and injustice in part of the third world.(Harrison,2000)cited by
(Dike, 2005:5). For instance the culture of polygamy in Nigeria is one of the
causes of poverty.

27. 27
2.3.2 Assessment of some previous and present poverty alleviation programmes in
Nigeria.
S/N Year launched. Names of programmes project or
institution.
Nature of activity.
1. 1975 Agriculture Development
Projects (ADPs)
Provision of decentralized
opportunities and resources in
agriculture to smallholder
farmers.
2. 1975 Universal Primary Education. To provide free primary
education.
3. 1976 River Basics Development
Authority
To undertake comprehensive
development of both surface
and underground water
resource for various purposes.
4. 1976 Operation Feed the Nation
(OFN)
To provide sufficient food for
all Nigerians. To facilitate
agricultural credit from
commercial banks to farmers.
5. 1979 Green Revolution To provide sufficient food for
all Nigerians.
6. 1986 Directorate of Food, Roads and
Rural Infrastructure.
To coordinate and streamline
all rural development
activities in the country and to

28. 28
accelerate the pace of
integrated rural development.
7. 1986 National Directorate of
Employment.
To provide skill development
to secondary school leavers
and graduates from tertiary
institutions.
8. 1987. Nigerian Agriculture insurance
cooperation
Provision of insurance cover
for business engaged in
agricultural production.
9. 1987 Better Life Programme
(BLP)
Training finance and
Guidance
10. 1989 Peoples’ Bank of Nigeria Encouraging saving
and credit facilities
11. 1990 Community Banks Credit facilities
12. 1994 Family Support
Programme (FSP)
Health care delivery,
child welfares, youth
development etc
13. 1997 Family Economic
Advancement Programme
(FEAP)
Credit facilities to
support the
establishment of
cottage industries
14. 2001 National Poverty
Eradication Programme
Employ generation in
rural sector and

29. 29
(NAPEP) societal welfare
15. 2004 National Economic
Empowerment and
Development Strategy
(NEEDS
Human and Economic
Empowerment
16. 2007 Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs)
Human development
as a means of nation /
national development
Source: Adediran (2007), NEEDS
The Nigeria government’s poverty reduction framework is named the National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the state level framework is the State
Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS), the local government is the
Local Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LEEDS), the community level is
the Community Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (CEEDS), while at the
household level is the Personal Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy
(PEEDS). NEEDS has four pillars; empowering people and improving social service
delivery; improving the private sector and focusing on non-oil growth; changing the way
government works and improving governance; and value reorientation at all level (World
Bank, 2007)
The government has gone to considerable lengths to integrate the MDGs into its economic
planning and to create greater accountability for poverty reduction. The task of improving
project delivery through empowerment of state and local government entities has been
pursued through the Conditional Grants Scheme. This makes grants available subject to

30. 30
reform of local institutions, with very encouraging results. A reduced federal budget for the
scheme in 2011 nevertheless amounts to about $300 million. The dire record of social data
collection is being addressed through a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics
2010-2014.
From all indications, more than 70% of the population exist below the poverty line. The
various programmes as we have seen above initiated towards poverty and hunger alleviation
have invariably spread poverty. In other words, the more these programmes, the more poverty
spreads. The situation is more painful considering the fact that Nigeria has lots of resources
including oil which she exports on a daily basis. Again these programmes ordinarily meant to
alleviate poverty are now like Frankenstein monster that was made to serve the people but the
people are in turn serving the monster. What this means is that these programmes that were
made to alleviate poverty ended up pauperizing the less privileged people with more poverty
and hunger. This is because the programmes are apparently hijacked by the politicians and
bureaucrats to perpetuate poverty with reckless abandon resulting in alleviating their own
poverty and increasing their security.
The reality is that Nigeria’s effort towards sustainable development would be a dream if
government does not create a forum of projects-recipients reconciliation to ascertain the level
to which these programmes have actually better their lot, just as a customer and the bank
reconcile their accounts to know their financial statement. By so doing, the people will be
able to gather and testify the level of their involvement, their benefits and their next
expectations. The idea of creating more and more institutions to be managed by the same
people, to further their interests is an ill-conceived idea of putting an old wine in a new wine
skin. Rather there should be continuity of programmes and periodic changes of the personnel
in order to enhance efficient programmes delivery. ‘Abujanization’ of programmes without
decentralization to reach or get to the grass roots is an aberration. The local people should be

31. 31
asked to identify their needs for implementation. Those charged with the responsibility of
distributing programme funds should be honest with utmost good faith to ensure the success
of programmes and their implementation. Agriculture should be encouraged at the rural level.
Because vast number of people are rural dwellers that can productively make use of
agricultural loan facility,etc. to improve their living conditions. Aisedon, Gaiani & Silvia
(2009).
2.4 ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION.
Education offers the people alternative options pertaining to the kind of lives they want to
lead. It enables the people to interact and relate meaningfully in the community. It also helps
to foster in the members of the community values such as hard work, integrity, honesty,
selflessness and tolerance.
The National Policy on Education adopted in 1981 and revised in 1995 and 1998 provides for
nine years of basic education. The Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme established
in 1999, aims to provide access to all children at least the first nine years of schooling.
Nigeria also endorsed the Jomiten Conference on Education For All (EFA) by the year 2000
that set out targets for early childhood care and development, primary education, junior
secondary school, and adult literacy. The trend in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) indicates
considerable fluctuation in enrolment between 1991 and 2000. Enrolment increased steadily
between 1991 and 1994, rising from 68%. Subsequently, enrolment declined to 81% in 1995
and 70% in 1996. Nigeria, therefore did not achieve the Jomiten EFA goals of 2000. Literacy
rates were higher in urban areas compared to rural areas, and more males were literate
compared to females. Recent survey reveal that the overall literacy rates have declined from
58% in 1990 to 49% in 2001, while literacy rate among women and girls have declined from
44% over the same period. Enojo (2009)

32. 32
Though significant progress has been made, so much needs to be done to enhance Universal
education. Several Nigerian children still have no formal education. It is claimed that over
90% of children employed as domestic servants have never attended a formal education.
According to the UNICEF, nearly 800million adults in Nigeria are still illiterate. (Chukwuike
2005). Even the quality of those who had formal education is egregiously low.
In Nigeria, reports on the MDGs indicate that a reasonable degree of success has been
recorded in the area of Universal primary education as manifested in increased primary
schools pupil enrolment and training of teachers. MDGs Report (2006).
2.5 PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT.
Gender equality is essential for socio economic development, poverty reduction and disease
prevention. Quite unfortunately, the commitment to the implementation of this goal has not
been very impressive. Women still suffer so many inequalities in political participation and
control of household resources. Girl child education compared to the male child education is
yet unparalleled. Poverty is yet largely feminized. Several culture norms are manipulated to
ensure subordination of women to men. Genital mutilation, harmful widowhood practices and
other human rights violations against women are still practiced.
The reports highlights gender disparity in access to primary, secondary and tertiary education
leading to unequal access to employment. It was found that the trend in gender ratios show a
reduction of inequality at the primary and secondary levels, although the disparity is still
pronounced at the tertiary levels. The ratio of literate females to males in the 15 to 24 years
age group increased from 0.89 in 1996 to 0.93 in 2000. However, National literacy rate
remained low, declining from 58% in 1990 to 49% in 2001. During the same period, literacy
rates for women and girls declined from 44% to 41%. Enojo (2009)

33. 33
2.6 REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY.
Reduction of child mortality is of central concern. High child mortality is a huge loss and a
serious threat to the nation. It is an acknowledged fact that children are the future of any
nation. Any nation therefore which suffers high child mortality has its future endangered.
According to the MDGs report in 2006, as against the global target of 30/1000 live births in
2015, Nigeria had 110/1000 live births.
Recent estimates from 2008 National Demographical and Health Survey put under five
mortality rates as 217 per 1,000 with large regional variations. Urban and rural areas had
under-five mortality rates of 243 per 1000 and 153 per 1000 respectively. With regard to geo-
political zones, the highest under-five mortality rates were found in the North West and North
East and the lowest in the South East and South West. Enojo (2009)
Indeed with high child mortality and morbidity, the nation will be drained off of the human
capital needed in the future. There are indicators that the government have shown signs of
appreciation of the danger of high child mortality for national development. They have
through collaborations provided health services such as immunization and enlightenment on
sound health tips.
2.7 REDUCING MATERNAL MORTALITY.
The moment of childbirth should be a period of happiness. This has not been the case for
several women who have lost their lives during pregnancy and childbirth due to
complications. According to UN Reports, Nigeria has the second highest number of maternal
deaths in the world after India. (Ogbu, 2008). Also, the Centre for Reproductive Rights, a
New York based international non-governmental organization stated that over 59,000
Nigerian women die annually during child birth. The CRR further stated that a woman in
Nigeria has a 1-in-18 risk of dying in childbirth or from pregnancy related cause during her
lifetime. The risk differs for women in rural, low income and non-formal education groups.

34. 34
Majority of these maternal deaths are said to be preventable but for the actions or inactions of
governments. (Nwankwo, 2009). Increased maternal deaths deplete the nation of human
capital, increase the ranks of orphan, economic fugitives and poverty-stricken children and
increase the risk that more of Nigeria’s youth will be at the mercy of charitable organizations
and others will be forced to learn new strategies such as prostitution, street begging, hawking,
and pickpocket for survival.
2.8 COMBATTING HIV/AIDS, MALARIA, TUBERCULOSIS AND OTHER
DEADLY DISEASES.
Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other deadly diseases, which is at the heart
of the MDGs, has been one of the major challenges of Nigeria. According to the United
Nations Report, Nigeria ranks third in the League of Nations with people living with
HIV/AIDS pandemic. (Ogbu, 2008). Though there are no exact statistical figures on the
number of deaths arising from these deadly diseases, the number is no doubt considerably
large. The number of orphans due to these diseases is also on the increase. More so, a large
population of the population is suffering from the killer diseases and many more are at the
risk of being victims. As Price Smith contended, there is link between AIDS-related deaths
among the youth, the most infested and productive segment of the population, the
commensurate loss of human capital, and resultant falling of GDP levels in Africa. He stated
that as AIDS skims off the doctors, teachers, parents, lawyers, entrepreneurs, judges, and
policymakers; it leads to institutional and societal fragility. USIP (2001). According to the
macroeconomic costs of AIDS and other associated infectious diseases posed an extra burden
on societies. As the sickness strikes at the labour force, it takes a toll on productivity,
profitability, and foreign investment in the future. USIP (2001).
The Nigerian government through collaboration with local and international non-
governmental organizations is addressing the problem of stigma and discrimination against

35. 35
people living HIV/AIDS. Also there has been continuous public education on malaria and
tuberculosis management and control. Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2006). These efforts
should be sustained while seeking lasting solutions.
2.9 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.
Environmental Sustainability is the prudent use of natural resources and protection of the
ecosystem, which sustain lives from the despoliation and degradation. Nigeria’s rich
environmental base is currently undermined by unsustainable practices such as unrestrained
deforestation encouraged by the use of fuel wood for cooking, climate change and pollution
arising from industrial waste, gas flaring, and oil spillages. In particular, the Niger Delta has
suffered severe depletion of the environment. On account of severe ecological despoliations
and pollution arising from oil production in the Niger Delta, about 10 million of the people
are destitute, with 14 million struggling to eke out a living. Only about 30% of the population
of the region has access to safe drinking water while the rest of the people depend on water
from often contaminated lakes, streams, stagnant ponds and hand dug wells. Emuedo (2006),
Osumah (2009). In other parts of the country, the consumption of fossil fuels oil, coal and
natural gas results in carbon dioxide, emissions that are contributing to gradual global
warming of the atmospheric conditions. The expected repercussion is climate change. Also,
there has been severe depletion of the environment in some parts of the country due to coastal
erosion and flooding. In particular, many parts of the country such as Lagos, Anambra, Imo,
Benue, Edo, and Akwa Ibom states erosion and flooding have ruined farmlands, residential
quarters, and highways thus imposing adverse economic calamities and many environmental
refugees. Many of the environmental refugees who are not fortunate to benefit from
rehabilitation end up as destitute. Even those who are rehabilitated end up having to contend
with violation if their rights, which usually come in the form of loss of property and violence
of armed conflict from hostile hosts. Fagbohun (2008).

36. 36
Nigeria has not shown so much commitment to environmental pollution. The repeated shift in
the terminal date for gas flaring indicates this. Poor environmental management has
engendered environmental scarcities that have led into violence in various parts of the
country. The recurring conflicts in the Niger Delta are linked to poor environmental
management.
2.10 DEVELOPING A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP.
Nigeria’s overall economic performance since Independence in 1960 has been decidedly
unimpressive. According to World Bank data, the average annual growth rate of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) between 1960 and 2000 was less than 4 percent. Thus, despite the
availability and expenditure of colossal amounts of foreign exchange obtained mainly from
its oil and gas resources, Nigeria’s economic growth has been weak and the incidence of
poverty has increased. It is estimated that Nigeria received over US$228 billion from oil
export receipts between 1981 and 1999 (Udeh, 2000). Yet the number of Nigerians living in
abject poverty- that is, on less than US$1 a day – more than doubled between 1970 and 2000,
and the proportion of the population living in poverty rose from 36% in 1970 to 70% in 2000.
Nigeria’s per capita income of US$260 in 2000 is much less than, indeed it is only one-third
of its level, US$780, in 1980. (See World Bank (2003). Meanwhile, the external debt stock
has continued to mount and the debt service burden has become unbearable. Obviously, the
colossal oil revenues have been tragically misspent and misused. Corruption has been
pervasive and there has been a lack of transparency, accountability and good governance.
Above all, there have been serious mistakes made in macroeconomic and debt management
policies.
Goal Eight relates to issues of – debt cancellation, trade justice, equitable governance in
global institutions, and political, social and economic rights for the poor – as an indispensable
foundation for a politics that will enable sustained progress to end poverty in the South. It is

37. 37
an important goal for holding developed countries accountable in advancing the MDGs. This
goal is particularly significant, as it requires richer countries to reform their policies and
actions to contribute to the fight against poverty. The lack of basic rights in poor countries
stems from and reinforces highly unequal power, within and between countries, which
marginalize poor people’s needs and priorities. Mutasa (2005). Specifically, goal 8 has as
targets the following: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory
trading system; Address the special needs of LDCs. Includes: tariff and quota free access for
LDC exports; Address the special needs of land-locked Countries and small island
developing states through The Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States and 22nd General Assembly provisions; Deal
comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and
international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term; In cooperation with
developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive work for
youth, In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential
drugs in developing countries, and In cooperation with the private sector, make available the
benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication.
Four decades after Independence in 1960, Nigeria remains a poor country with a per capita
income of US$260 in 2000. At the dawn of the Third Millennium, approximately 70% of the
population still lived on less than US$1 a day, an indication of extreme poverty. Real GDP
growth has remained sluggish, averaging 3.5% per annum since 2000. Nigeria is also a highly
indebted country with total external debt exceeding US$32 billion in 2003. The debt service
burden remains crushing. Foreign Aid in the form of Official Development Assistance
(ODA) has been low and declining during the past decade. In 2002, ODA per capita was less
than US$2 and total ODA was only 0 .4% of GNP. Clearly, Nigeria would find it difficult to

38. 38
attain the Millennium Development Goals without massive assistance from Development
Partners in the areas of Aid, Trade and Debt relief. (ibid. p 11)
Debt relief negotiated by Nigeria in 2005 provided new opportunities for investment in the
social sector. Debt servicing fell from 15.2 per cent of exports in 2005 to 0.5 per cent in 2008.
To build on these positive developments there is a need to take action to forestall a relapse
into unsustainable levels of debt that could prevent the country from achieving the MDGs.
The outlook for the broader partnership for development is not as bright. Trade agreements,
continue to be inequitable and constrain exports and economic growth. Development
assistance has grown although, when debt relief is excluded, it is still very low on a per capita
basis. Improving the quality of human and capital resources available is critical to attracting
the foreign direct investment that is needed to contribute to development. As a result of the
deregulation of the telecommunications sector in 2001, the proportion of the population with
access to mobile telephones increased from 2 per cent to 42 per cent between 2000 and 2008.
However, this has yet to bridge the digital divide and only 15.8 per cent of the population
currently has access to the internet. (Mutasa, 2005).
The flow of ODA (including debt relief gains) from developed countries to Nigeria has
increased dramatically since 2004, rising from US$4.49 per person in 2004 to US$81.67 per
person in 2006 and 2007). However, these figures include the large volume of debt relief
negotiated by Nigeria, which was received in tranches spanning both 2005 and 2006. This
does not reflect a large or sustained increase in the volume of additional ODA provided by
international development partners in line with their commitments.
Provisional data for 2008 from the OECD show per capita ODA of US$8.53, which is an
increase on previous years but is still far short of the volume of funds required to make
appreciable progress on the MDGs. The coordination and management of ODA from
different donors and countries is a complex challenge and the government will need to

39. 39
allocate more resources to this activity. Nigeria's economy was over-burdened by the
country's huge external debt for many years. In 1990, for example, servicing the country's
external debt consumed 22.3 per cent of the value of the country's exports of goods and
services. Nigeria obtained debt relief in 2005, when the Paris Club wrote off US$18 billion of
its debt on condition that the country pay off the balance of approximately US$12.4 billion
owing to the Paris Club creditors. Nigeria paid off its debt to the Paris Club in 2006. It
subsequently paid off its debt to the London Club of creditors through par bonds worth
US$1.486 billion and promissory notes worth US$476 million. In addition, in 2007 Nigeria
repurchased about 21 per cent of outstanding oil warrants issued under a debt-restructuring
deal in 1991. All Paris Club debt relief gains were dedicated to additional spending on pro-
poor projects and programmes towards achieving the MDGs in Nigeria.
In 1990 there were only 0.3 telephone lines per 100 people in Nigeria. This increased to 0.54
in 2002 and to 0.86 in 2008. If this trend continues, only about 2 of every 100 people in
Nigeria will have access to telephone lines by 2015. However, many more people have access
to cellular phones. As a result of the deregulation of the telecommunications sector in 2001,
foreign investment in Nigeria's telecommunications sector increased from US$2.1 billion in
2002 to US$8.1 billion in 2006. This has significantly expanded infrastructure and activity in
the sector. The number of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) lines increased
from 0.27 million in 2001 to more than 1.57 million lines in 2002. The number of lines
doubled again in 2003 to 3.1 million lines and tripled in 2004, reaching 9.2 million. In 2006,
the number of lines almost doubled the 2005 figure of 18 million to reach 32 million. Thus,
access to cellular phones increased from only two out of every 100 people in Nigeria in 2000
to nearly 42 per 100 in 2008. If this trend were to continue, 56.10 per cent of the population
would have access to a cellular phone by 2015.
The number of Nigerians using the internet increased from 0.6 in every 100 people in 2000 to

40. 40
15.86 in 2008. Projections for 2010 to 2015 show an average of 11.35 users for every 100
persons, rising to 13.90 by 2015. Thus, although access to the internet increased between
2000 and 2008, access rates are still very low in Nigeria. Overall, the involvement of private
sector operators in the telecommunications sector has brought competition, innovation and
wider coverage, mobilised new financing for the industry and increased its contribution to
GDP. Az-Zubair (2010).
Although the cost of servicing Nigeria's debts is currently within sustainable limits, there is a
need to ensure that the country does not revert to unsustainable levels of debt. A major
challenge facing policy-makers and implementers is the need to integrate the management of
external and domestic debt in such a way that debt can be used effectively to fund
development projects at the federal, state and local government levels, in addition to its
traditional objective of financing fiscal gaps. This is particularly important in view of the
unprecedentedly high level of Nigeria's domestic debt. The need to develop approaches to
public debt management that reflect changing funding realities, such as the growing
importance of public-private partnerships, is a critical challenge for policy-makers and
implementers. In the telecommunications sector, although the numbers of telephone lines and
teledensity have increased, Nigerians generally consider the pricing of telecommunication
services to be exploitative. The quality of services rendered by service providers is
considered inadequate, both by the government and by citizens. More efforts need to be made
to address issues like dropped calls, inaccurate billing and poor call quality.
In the area of foreign direct investment (FDI), there are two major challenges. The first is to
attract FDI and the second is to maximise its contribution to development. Whether foreign
companies invest in Nigeria depends on a number of factors. These include the cost of doing
business, such as the quality of human resources, adequate provision of infrastructure and the
efficiency and credibility of business regulatory institutions. Az-Zubair (2010).

41. 41
The problem of development is a global challenge and the MDGs are a response by world
leaders. There are limitations to utilizing the MDGs as a framework for delivering or
measuring development. But they provide a platform to engage the development process. The
situation in Nigeria indicates that there are challenges in meeting the goals by 2015. For
Nigeria to meet the goals in 2015, there is the need to formulate and implement policies that
will promote transparency and accountability; overcome institutional constraints; promote
pro-poor growth; bring about structural change; enhance distributive equity; engender social
and cultural re-orientation; engineer political transformation; promote human development;
practice inclusive urban development; generate employment and transform power relations.
Nigeria is making real progress. If the supportive environment continues to improve, as it has
over the last ten years, the nation has a real chance of achieving the MDGs.

42. 42
REFERENCES.
Abani, C., Igbuzor, O. and Moru, J. ( 2005), Attaining the millenium development goals in
Nigeria: Indicative progress and a call for action. In Moru, J. (Ed), another Nigeria
is possible: Proceedings of the first Nigeria social forum. Abuja, Nigeria social
forum.
Adediran, O.E. (2007), An assessment of human development index and poverty
parameters in the millennium development goals : Evidence from Nigeria.
Aisedon, Gaiani & Silvia(2009), Eradication of poverty and hunger in Nigeria MDGs: Issues
on gender, women, poverty and development.
Az-Zubair A, (2010), Nigeria millennium development goals report. Government of the
Federal republic of Nigeria.
Central bank of Nigeria and world bank, (1999), Nigeria’s development projects: Poverty
assessment and alleviation study & march.
Claude, A. (1989), The political economy of crisis and underdevelopment in Africa. Lagos
JAD publishers.
Emuedo, C. (2006); Nigeria oil, environment, poverty and cyclic insecurity to the niger
delta being a seminar paper presented at the department of political science and
public administration, university of Benin, Benin city.
Enojo, K. (2009), Millennium development goals and political stability in Nigeria,
millennium development goals; integrated issues, vol. 4.
Eromafuru E, (2009), Unravelling the keys to maximizing the dividends of millennium
development goals through poverty and hunger eradication programme,
millennium development goals; integrated issues, vol. 4.
Fagbohun, L. (2008); ‘Coastal erosion, pushing the frontiers of remedies’, The nation,
Tuesday, August 19.
Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko (2003). "The human development paradigm: operationalizing Sen’s
ideas on capabilities". Feminist economics 9 (2–3): 301–317.
Galtung (1973), The Europeans community: A superpower in the making. (London: George
Alien & Unwin).
Global monitoring report 2010 : The MDGs after the crisis.The world bank group.
Goldman Sachs (2007). BRICs and beyond, Goldman Sachs global economic research, the
Goldman Sachs Group, inc. July 25, 2007, p. 158.
Harrison, E. (2000) cited by Dike, V. (2005), ‘The global economy and poverty in Nigeria’.
Igbuzor O, (2006), The millennium development goals: Can Nigeria meet the goals in
2015? A paper presented at a symposium on millennium development goals and
Nigeria: issues, challenges and prospects. Institute of chartered accountants (ICAN),
Abuja.

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Kambhampati, U. S. (2004), Development and the developing world. USA, blackwell
publishing Inc.
Lipset, S.M. and Lenz, G.S. (2000) ‘Computation, culture and markets’ in E.I, Harrison, and
S.P. Huntington, 9eds) culture matters. (New York: Basic Books).
MDG Office (2008), MDGs Nigeria: Information kit (January) [brochure]. Abuja, Nigerian
capital territory: published by office of the senior special assistant to the president
on millennium development goals, Nigeria. p. 2-16.
Millenium development goals report 2004 p. v
Mutasa C, (2005) : The politics of the MDGs and Nigeria: A critical appraisal of the global
partnership for development, African forum and network on debt and development.
(AFRODAD).
National economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) (2004). Abuja,
National planning commission.
NEEDS (2004). NIGERIA: National economic empowerment and development strategy,
(March) [brochure]. Abuja, Nigerian capital territory: Published by national
planning commission. p. 19.
Nwankwo, J. (2009), ’59,000 Nigerian women die annually during childbirth’, daily
independent, Friday, November 14.
Obadan, M.I (1996) Poverty in Nigeria characteristics alleviation strategies and
programmes, NCEMA policy analysis series, vol 2, no. 2.
Office of the senior special assistant to the president on the MDGs. (2008). Mid-point
assessment of the millennium development goals in Nigeria. Abuja: OSSAP-MDGs.
Ogbu, M. (2008), Tackling poverty in Gombe via cooperatives, daily independent, Tuesday,
July 22.
Onah O. Fab. (2006), Managing public programmes and projects (Nsukka: Great AP express
publishers).
One world poverty global guide (2011): Poverty reduction in Nigeria briefing.
Osumah, O. Pedro, O. (2009). Implementations of millennium development goals (MDGs)
and National security in Nigeria: A strategic thinking.
Soludo, C. (2007). Nigeria’s financial system strategy 2020 plan: Our dream. FSS 2020
international conference, Abuja, Nigeria. Pp.1- 45.
This day (2010) Nigeria: Nation and millennium development goals.
Udeh, J. 2000. “Petroleum revenue management: The Nigerian perspective.” Paper
presented at world bank/IFC petroleum revenue management workshop,
Washington, D.C., U.S.A., Oct. 23 – 24.
UNDP (2003), Human development report 2003-Millenium development goals: A
compact among nations to end human poverty. New York, oxford university press

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UNICEF (2000) ‘Poverty in africahunger, HIV/AIDS and deaths in Africa’
file:|///192.168.1.2/Document/JV.htm 2/16/2000, 6:45pm
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United Nations Development Programme (1999). Human development report 1999. New
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United States Institute of Peace (USIP) (2001), ‘AIDS and violent conflicts in Africa’,
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Vision Report (1997). Report of the vision 2020 committee: Main report (September)
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Wikipedia (2008) ‘Poverty in Africa’ file.////192.168.1.2/Document/omo.htm2/16/2009,
5.56pm

45. 45
CHAPTER THREE.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
3.0. INTRODUCTION.
This chapter is concerned with the overall design of the study. This is necessary in order to
review and state the method of analysis used in the course of this research work. It explains
the layout and design of the research work, and also states the method, types and sources of
data collection.
This chapter deals with the procedure used in gathering data and analysing data to produce
information, which becomes a basis of drawing conclusions on the ‘The impact of the
Millennium Development Goals on human development’.
3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN.
A research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation concerned, so as to
obtain answers to research questions. The plan is the overall scheme of the research that
contains an outline of what the research prepares to do. The structure on the other side is the
outline or model of how variables are interrelated, how objectives will be achieved and how
problems encountered in the research will be solved.
This design shows a clear presentation of the subject matter in a five-chapter format as
follows:
Chapter One: This is the introduction to the study. It consists of the background of the study,
the statement of the problem, objectives of the study, justification of the study, research
questions and hypotheses, scope and limitations of the study.

46. 46
Chapter Two: This contains the literature review which consists of the theoretical literature
of the study on the impact of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on human
development index, and how their achievement would facilitate economic development.
Chapter Three: This consists of the research methodology and design. The model
specification, sources of data, method of the data analysis, and the decision making criteria.
Chapter Four: In this chapter, the treatment of data presentation was done in addition to
analysing and interpreting the data.
Chapter Five: This embodies the summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations
of the study.
3.2 SOURCES OF DATA.
The sources of data for this research are basically secondary. Data will be obtained from the
United Nations Statistic Department, National Bureau of Statistics, National Planning
Commission, UNICEF, Central Bank of Nigeria annual reports and Millennium Development
Goals reports.
3.3. MODEL SPECIFICATION.
There is need to capture and present the impact which the millennium development goals
have on the human development in the Nigerian economy. This is done by the model
specification. It is a mathematical relationship showing the interrelationship between
economic variables; dependent and independent. It specifies the model to be tested in order to
determine the impact of the MDGs on human development. This is functionally expressed as:
Y= f(X1 X2)
The specified form of the model is

47. 47
HDI= f (MDG1 MDG2 MDG3 MDG4 MDG5 MDG6 MDG7 MDG8).
Economic model is expressed as:
HDI=a0+ a1MDG1+ a2MDG2+ a3MDG3 +a4MDG4 +a5MDG5 +a6MDG6 + a7MDG7
+a8MDG8.
The econometrics model is expressed as:
HDI=a0+ a1MDG1+ a2MDG2+ a3MDG3 +a4MDG4 +a5MDG5 +a6MDG6 + a7MDG7
+a8MDG8 + U.
Where;
HDI- Human Development Index, which is the selected macro-economic variable for
measuring development.
MDG1-Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (%), an indicator for the
measurement of the first millennium development goal.
MDG2- Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%),an indicator for the measurement of the
second millennium development goal.
MDG3-Ratio of girlstoboys intertiaryeducation(girlsper100 boys), an indicator for the
measurement of the third millennium development goal.
MDG4-Infant mortalityrate (per1,000 live births), anindicator for the measurement of the fourth
millennium development goal.
MDG5- Maternal mortalityrate (per100,000 live births), anindicator for the measurement of the
fifth millennium development goal.

48. 48
MDG6- HIV prevalence amongpregnantyoungwomenaged15-24 (%), an indicator for the
measurement of the sixth millennium development goal.
MDG7-Proportionof populationusinganimprovedsanitation facility(%), anindicator for the
measurement of the seventh millennium development goal.
MDG8- Teledensity, anindicator for the measurement of the eight millennium development
goal.
The eight independent variables above are used in order to encapsulate the eight millennium
development goals.
a0-intercept
a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7 & a8-measure of the slope/regression coefficients.
U= Error term/ Stochastic term/ Random variable.
This shows that there exists a functional relationship between the millennium development
goals and human development.
APRIORI EXPECTATION.
HDI=a0+ a1MDG1+ a2MDG2+ a3MDG3 +a4MDG4 +a5MDG5 +a6MDG6 + a7MDG7
+a8MDG8
Where
a1<0, a2>0, a3>0, a4<0, a5 <0, a6<0, a7>0, and a8>0.
This implies that the prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (%), Infant
mortalityrate (per1,000 live births),Maternal mortalityrate (per100,000 live births)and HIV
prevalence amongpregnantyoungwomenaged15-24 (%) have negative signs and thus denoting

49. 49
a negative relationship with human development in the Nigerian economy. On the other hand,
Netenrolmentratioinprimary education(%),Ratioof girlstoboysin tertiary education(girlsper
100 boys), Proportionof populationusinganimprovedsanitation facility(%)and Teledensityhave
positive signs,thusdenotingapositive relationshipwithhumandevelopmentinthe Nigerian
economy.
RESTATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS.
H0: The MDGs have no significant impact on human development in the Nigerian economy.
H1: The MDGs have a significant impact on human development in the Nigerian economy.
Decision Rule for Accepting and Rejecting H0 and H1.
If t calculated < t tabulated
Accept H0 and reject H1.
If t calculated > t tabulated
Accept H1 and reject H0.
3.4. MODEL ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE.
This refers to the method used in analysing the data that has been gathered for the purpose of
this research study. The technique used for analysing the model would be the Ordinary Least
Square method (OLS). The computational software that is used for the specified model is E-
views.

50. 50
3.5. MODEL EVALUATION TECHNIQUE AND TEST OF RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS.
This deals with the reliability of the results obtained from using the OLS. The evaluation
concerns itself with deciding whether or not the estimates of the parameters are theoretically
meaningful and statistically satisfactory. The student T test, Standard Error, R2, Adjusted R2,
and the F test will be used in evaluating the model.
The student T test will measure the statistical significance of the coefficient in the model at
5% level of significance. The standard error will measure the dispersion of the estimates
around the true parameters. The larger the standard error of the parameter, the less reliable it
is. The reverse holds true. The overall fitness of the model is measured using the coefficient
of determination. R2 and the hypothesis will be jointly testing the F test. R2 will be
operationally useful if it is equal or greater than 0.5. A higher level of R2 denotes a strong
explanatory power of the model and shows the level of the relationship that exists between
the MDGs and human development.

51. 51
REFERENCES
Afolabi G.K, G.N. Okezie (2005). Project writing and supervision. Gold fish publishers.
Asika N. (2000). Research methodology in behaviour sciences. Lagos: Longman Nigeria Plc.
Gujarati, D.N. (2009). Basic econometrics, McGraw hill. 5th Edition.

52. 52
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS.
4.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains the presentation, analysis and discussions of data obtained from
secondary sources. It seeks to establish the extent to which the MDGs have an impact on
human development.
4.1 DATA PRESENTATION.
Below are the data of all Human Development Index, Prevalence of underweight children
under five years of age(%), Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%), Ratio of girls to
boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys), Under-five mortality rate (per live 1,000
births), Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births), HIV prevalence among pregnant
young women aged 15-24 (%),Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility
(%) and teledensity, all indicators for measurement of the eight MDGs respectively, in
Nigeria, from the millennium-2000 to 2009.

53. 53
Source:
 Human Developmentindex:Trends2005 – PresentUNDP
 2004/2005 report UNDP
 MDG Report 2010.
Year Human
Development
Index
Prevalence of
underweight
children under
five years of
age(%)
Net
enrolment
ratio in
primary
education
(%)
Ratio of
girls to
boys in
tertiary
education
(girls per
100 boys)
Under-
five
mortality
rate (per
live
1,000
births)
Maternal
mortality
rate (per
100,000
live
births)
HIV
prevalence
among
pregnant
young
women
aged 15-24
(%)
Proportion
of
population
using a
n improved
sanitation
facility (%)
Teledensity
2000 0.468 31 95.0 66 183.75 704 5.4 42.9 0.68
2001 0.468 28.7 95.0 68 183.75 704 5.8 42.9 0.73
2002 0.469 28.7 93.0 87 183.75 704 5.8 49.4 1.89
2003 0.470 28.7 90.0 72 201 800 5.0 49.8 3.35
2004 0.468 30 81.1 75.5 201 800 5.0 38 8.50
2005 0.422 30 84.6 70.1 201 800 4.3 33 16.27
2006 0.43 28 87.9 69.0 201 800 4.3 33 24.18
2007 0.437 25 89.6 66.4 138 800 4.3 42.9 29.98
2008 0.443 23.1 88.8 66.8 157 545 4.2 53.8 45.93
2009 0.448 24 89.1 68.1 160 545 4.2 51.6 45.93

54. 54
DISCUSSION OF TABLE 1.
The above table shows the values for the dependent and independent variables for a given
period of 10 years.
In 2000, the estimated value of the human development index was 0.468. The value for
Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age(%) was 33 , Net enrolment ratio
in primary education (%) was 95, Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100
boys) was 66, Under-five mortality rate (per live 1,000 births) was 183.75, Maternal
mortality rate (per 100,000 live births) was 704, HIV prevalence among pregnant young
women aged 15-24 (%) was 5.4, Proportion of population using an improved sanitation
facility (%) was 42.9 and teledensity was 0.68. However, through the years 2001-2004, the
value of the HDI revolved around the same figure until 2005 when it fell drastically to 0.422.
Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age(%) fell to 28.7 and then rose to
30 in 2004. Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%) fell to 81.1 in 2004. Ratio of girls
to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys) rose to 75.5 in 2004. Under-five mortality
rate (per live 1,000 births) was constant through 2001 and 2002 and then rose to 2001 until
2006.
In 2009, HDI was estimated to have increased to 0.448, Prevalence of underweight children
under five years of age(%) fell to 24, Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%) 89.1,
Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys) was 68.1, Under-five mortality
rate (per live 1,000 births) fell to 160, Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births)
reduced to 545, HIV prevalence among pregnant young women aged 15-24 (%) fell to 4.2,
Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility (%) increased to 51.6 and there
was a tremendous increase in teledensity to 45.93.

55. 55
We can see from the trend that there has been remarkable improvement in attempts to meet
the targets. However, more work still needs to be done if we are to achieve these goals by
2015.
4.2. DATA ANALYSIS.
Using Econometric Views (E-Views), computer software for empirical statistical analysis, we
estimate the specified model of the functional relationship between the explained variable on
the one hand, and the explanatory variables on the other hand, via the Ordinary Least Squares
(OLS) technique to obtain the result below.
Table 4.2: RegressionAnalysis Result.
Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.
C -0.922739 0.119024 -7.752542 0.0817
MDG1 0.016819 0.001470 11.43844 0.0555
MDG2 -0.001010 0.000195 -5.166817 0.1217
MDG3 -0.001934 0.000132 -14.64776 0.0434
MDG4 0.000370 4.79E-05 7.717613 0.0820
MDG5 0.000373 3.12E-05 11.97269 0.0530
MDG6 0.104166 0.006712 15.51868 0.0410
MDG7 0.004580 0.000261 17.51859 0.0363
MDG8 0.005479 0.000479 11.44288 0.0555
R-squared 0.999444
Adjusted R-squared 0.994993
Durbin-Watson stat
2.969553
Prob(F-statistic) 0.05156
where C= a0
From the hypothesis within the model,

56. 56
HDI=a0+ a1MDG1+ a2MDG2+ a3MDG3 +a4MDG4 +a5MDG5 +a6MDG6 + a7MDG7
+a8MDG8 + U.
Where;
HDI- Human Development Index, which is the selected macro-economic variable for human
development.
a0= slope of the regression.
MDG1- Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (%).
a1= coefficient of the prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (%).
MDG2- Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%)
a2= coefficient of Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%)
MDG3-Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys).
a3= coefficient of Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys).
MDG4- Under-five mortality rate (per live 1,000 births).
a4= coefficient of under-five mortality rate (per live 1,000 births).
MDG5- Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births).
a5= coefficient of Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births).
MDG6- HIV prevalence among pregnant young women aged 15-24 (%).
a6= coefficient of HIV prevalence among pregnant young women aged 15-24 (%).
MDG7-Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility (%).

57. 57
a7= coefficient of Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility (%).
MDG8- Teledensity
a8= coefficient of teledensity.
U= Random variable.
From the regression analysis carried out on EViews 6
a0= -0.922739
a1= 0.016819
a2= -0.001010
a3= -0.001934
a4= 0.000370
a5=0.000373
a6= 0.104166
a7= 0.004580
a8= 0.005479
Therefore the model can now be written as:
HD1= -0.922739 + 0.016819MDG1- 0.001010MDG2 -0.001934MDG3 + 0.000370MDG4 +
0.000373MDG5 + 0.104166MDG6 + 0.004580MDG7 + 0.005479MDG8 + e

58. 58
DISCUSSION OF TABLE 4.2.
From the derived model for the hypothesis, the slope is -0.922739.
The coefficient a1 (a1=0.016819) shows a positive relationship between the prevalence of
underweight children under five years of age (%) and Human Development Index, implying
that a unit increase in the prevalence of underweight children would induce an infinitesimal
increase of about 0.017units in the value of the Human Development Index, and vice-versa.
However, this positive relationship is not consistent with our a priori expectation as earlier
stated.
The coefficient a2 ( a2= -0.001010) shows a negative relationship between the net enrolment
ratio in primary education (%) and the Human Development Index. This implies that a unit
increase in the percentage of net enrolment ratio in primary education would cause a
corresponding decrease in the Human Development Index by about 0.001 units and vice-
versa. This relationship is not consistent with the earlier stated a priori expectation.
The coefficient a3 (a3= -0.001934) shows a negative relationship between the Human
Development Index and the ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys).
This implies that a unit increase in the ratio of girls per 100 boys in tertiary education would
lead to a decrease in Human Development Index by about 0.002 units, and vice-versa. This
negative relationship is inconsistent with the a priori expectation.
The coefficient a4 (a4= 0.000370) shows a positive relationship between Infant mortality rate
(per 1,000 live births) and human development. That is, as the rate of infant mortality
increases, human development increases. This too, is inconsistent with the a priori
expectation.

59. 59
The coefficient a5 (a5=0.000373) shows a positive relationship between maternal mortality
rate (per 100,000 live births) and human development index. A unit increase in maternal
mortality rate will cause a corresponding increase in human development index by about
0.0004 units, and vice-versa. This relationship is not consistent with the a priori expectation.
The coefficient a6 (a6= 0.104166) shows a positive relationship between HIV prevalence
among pregnant young women aged 15-24 (%) and human development index. This implies
that a unit increase in the prevalence of HIV among pregnant young woman would lead to a
corresponding increase in human development index by about 0.104%. This relationship as
well, is inconsistent with the a priori expectation.
The coefficient a7 (a7=0.004580) indicates a positive relationship between proportion of
population using an improved sanitation facility (%) and human development index. This
implies that an increase in the number of people who use an improved sanitation facility will
lead to a corresponding increase in the human development index. This relationship is
consistent with the a priori expectation.
The coefficient a8 (a8=0.005479) indicates a positive relationship between teledensity and
human development index. This implies that an increase in the number of people who have
access to telephones will lead to a corresponding increase in the human development index.
This relationship follows from the a priori expectation.

60. 60
GRAPHS SHOWING CORELLATION BETWEEN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE
MDGs.
HDI Positive Correlation
0
MDG1 MDG4 MDG5 MDG6 MDG 7 MDG8
Negative Correlation
HDI
0 MDG2 MDG3
4.3 DATA INTERPRETATION.
The data was analysed, estimated and interpreted with the aid of the multiple regression
technique, and the Econometrics views (E-views) statistical tool.

61. 61
In the model, the intercept a0 shows the value of the HDI when the values of the independent
variables are indeterminate or when they are zero.
The R2 measures the changes in the dependent variables that occur as a result of the variations
in the independent variables. The coefficient of determination R is such that 0≤R≤1and
denotes the strength of the linear relationship between the variables.
From the generated result, R2 =0.999444. This means that 99.9% of the variations in HDI can
be explained by MDG1, MDG2, MDG3, MDG4, MDG6, MDG7 and MDG8. More
specifically, it implies that, in Nigeria, from the year 2000 to 2009, changes in the values of
Human Development Index is accounted for by changes in Prevalence of underweight
children under five years of age (%), Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%),Ratio of
girls to boys in tertiary education (girls per 100 boys) Under-five mortality rate (per live
1,000 births). Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 live births), HIV prevalence among
pregnant young women aged 15-24 (%), Proportion of population using an improved
sanitation facility (%), and Teledensity, 99.9% of the time. The remaining 0.1% is explained
by the other variables which are not included in the model and are covered by the stochastic
error term U.
The adjusted R2 is often used because the R2 tends to give an overtly optimistic picture of the
fit of regression especially when the number of explanatory variables is large compared with
the number of observations. From the regression results, Adjusted R2 is given as 0.994993
which is a reaffirmation that a significant percentage of about 99.4% of the variation in HDI
is as a result of changes in Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age (%),
Net enrolment ratio in primary education (%),Ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education (girls
per 100 boys) Under-five mortality rate (per live 1,000 births). Maternal mortality rate (per