Governance and Human Development: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

This study empirically investigates the effects of governance on human development in Nigeria. Using annual time series data covering the period 1998 to 2010, obtained from various sources, and employing the classical least squares estimation technique, the study finds that corruption, foreign aid and government expenditure negatively affected human development within the period. The effect of government expenditure was however not significant. On the other hand, the effect of oil export earning on human development was positive, though it was far from being significant. The paper concludes that these findings indicate weak (bad) governance, and calls for urgent governance reforms to position the country on the path to sustainable human development. To this end, measures recommended for policy consideration to ensure that good governance is enthroned in the country include intensification of the fight against corruption, efficient/effective use of foreign aid to ensure the actualization of its purpose, prioritization and close monitoring of annual budgetary allocations to sectors that are strongly linked to human welfare.

Keywords: Corruption, governance, human development, expenditure