MAPPING SOCIAL FAULT LINES

A SOCIAL STUDY OF POVERTY, INEQUALITY, AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR A NEW NIGERIA

Abstract

Nigeria’s development trajectory over the past six decades has been characterized by vast human and natural resource endowments paradoxically coexisting with widespread poverty, entrenched inequality, and uneven socio-economic progress. This paper examines the structural fault lines that shape poverty and inequality in Nigeria and interrogates the persistent failure of growth patterns to translate into broad-based social welfare. Drawing from empirical data, interdisciplinary social-science literature, and global development frameworks, the study critically analyzes the economic, political, demographic, and institutional drivers of exclusion. It argues that Nigeria’s growth model historically consumption-driven, resource-dependent, and structurally unequal has produced a development paradox where economic expansion coexists with worsening multidimensional poverty. Grounded in social-justice theory, political-economy approaches, and human-development perspectives, the article maps key vulnerabilities embedded in governance structures, regional disparities, class stratification, gender inequalities, youth unemployment, and the urban-rural divide. The study proposes a multidimensional agenda for inclusive growth rooted in institutional reform, equitable distribution, social protection, climate-responsive policies, human-capital investment, and participatory governance. It concludes that a new Nigeria requires not merely economic expansion, but a complete restructuring of development pathways that place human welfare at the center of national transformation.