ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN AIDS PROGRAMS ON POVERTY REDUCTION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study was aimed at assessing assessment of foreign aids programs on poverty reduction and economic development in Nigeria, a case study of Lagos state. The survey research was used in this study to sample the opinion of respondents. This method involved random selection of respondent who were administered with questionnaires. The target population of the study comprised staff of selected departments in ministry of women affairs in Lagos state. The questionnaire administered was one hundred and ten (110) copies and one hundred copies retrieved which constitute the sample size. The descriptive and analytical approach was adopted using Chi-square to test and analyze the hypotheses earlier stated. The findings revealed that foreign aid programs have a significant impact on poverty reduction in Nigeria and thatforeign aid programs have a significant relationship with Economic development in Nigeria. It was therefore concluded from the findings that in order to achieve the goal of foreign aid effectiveness (to eliminate poverty and increase welfare)it is required to improve the capacity of the poorer countries and to include all stakeholders for a good deal of political interests and commitment at the highest level. It was recommended that the prevailing practice based on all kinds of subjective and informal contacts in the recruitment exercise should be discouraged; that is, reliable, valid and objective selection instruments (advertisement, aptitude test, interview, verification of qualifications etc.) should be devised and adequately utilised.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND STUDY

Growth economists and analysts are currently grappling with topics such as foreign aids, poverty reduction, and economic development. This is due to the fact that some scholars believe that foreign aid leads to growth, while others believe that aid does not contribute to economic growth and therefore has a negative effect on the recipient country's economic development.Foreign assistance has been in existence since the 1960s, but there are still debates on whether the institution's main goal has been met or not. Donations of money, goods, or services from one country to another are known as foreign aid.Donations may be made for humanitarian or altruistic reasons, or to further the giving country's national interests. Help may be provided between two countries (bilateral) or several countries (multilateral).When recipients of bilateral aid are required to purchase goods and services from the donor country, it is known as conditional aid. Multilateral aid is usually untied assistance that can be used in any field of the recipient country.

While economists in the twentieth century interpreted economic development mainly in terms of economic growth, sociologists emphasized wider processes of transformation and modernization..Economic development is described by Karl Seidman, a development and urban studies scholar, as "the process of generating and using physical, human, financial, and social assets to generate improved and widely shared economic well-being and quality of life for a community or area." Economic development, according to Daphne Greenwood and Richard Holt, differs from economic growth in that it is a "broadly focused and permanent improvement in the overall standard of living for individuals within a society"Moreover, growth indicators such as per capita income do not always equate with changes in quality of life. Economic growth is a broad term that encompasses both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Economic development entails both economic growth and gradual improvements in key factors that influence people's well-being, such as health and education. According to the Center for International Finance and Development at the University of Iowa:

'Economic Development' is a word that practitioners, analysts, policymakers, and others have used widely in the 20th century. The idea, on the other hand, has been around for centuries in the West. Other words used to describe economic growth include modernization, westernization, and, most notably, industrialization. The environment and economic growth are inextricably linked.

Poverty reduction is primarily due to increased economic growth. Food shortages were widespread before modern agricultural technologies and in areas that lack them today, such as nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation methods. The beginning of the Industrial Revolution ushered in a period of rapid economic development, eradicating widespread poverty in what is now known as the developed world. During the twentieth century, the global GDP per human quintupled.Just about 20% of humanity lived on less than a dollar a day in 2011, compared to 75% in 2000. The lack of economic freedoms today is limiting future economic growth. Economic liberalization necessitates the extension of property rights to the poor, especially in the case of land. Financial services, notably savings, can be made available to the poor through technology, such as mobile banking. Investment may be discouraged by inefficient institutions, corruption, and political uncertainty. Aid and government assistance in the areas of health, education, and infrastructure contribute to development by growing human and physical resources.

Poverty alleviation often means improving the living standards of people who are already poor. Foreign aid, especially in the medical and science fields, is critical to improving people's lives, as shown by the Green Revolution and the eradication of smallpox. The high proportion of tied aid, which requires receiving countries to purchase goods that are often more costly and only come from donor countries, is one of the problems with today's development aid. Nonetheless, some people claim (as Peter Singer does in his book The Life You Can Save) that incremental changes in the way people in rich countries live their lives can help to alleviate global poverty.

According to Igbuzor, (2013)Nigeria, as a developing nation, is characterized by low wages, high unemployment, low industrial capacity utilization, high poverty, high illiteracy, and weak infrastructure, to name a few of the problems the country faces. Nigeria which was one of the richest 50 countries in the early 1970s has retrogressed to become one of the 25 poorest countries at the threshold of the twenty first century. Nigeria is the world's sixth largest oil exporter, but it also has the world's third largest population of poor people, after China and India.

In order to resolve these issues, international assistance has been proposed as a viable alternative for stimulating growth by supplementing the country's limited domestic financial resources. Although some countries that have benefited from foreign assistance have progressed (China, South Korea), several African countries, including Nigeria, have stayed behind. Nigeria has continued to benefit from all kinds of international assistance, but economic growth has remained dismal.Thereforethis study centers on assessment of foreign aids programs on poverty reduction and economic development in Nigeria.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

While foreign aid plays an important role in promoting growth, poverty reduction, and development, it is ironic that little economic development has occurred after years of channeling money to developing countries. Many factors have been identified as roadblocks to Nigeria's economic growth and poverty reduction by foreign aid.Corruption is one of these factors. The aid intended to carry out development programs and projects in a variety of sectors is embezzled by government officials whose job it is to ensure that such programs and projects are carried out. According to Chukwuemeka, 2015: 258)this is a roadblock to international assistance efforts to help the country grow. There's also the issue of international assistance misappropriation and inadequate use. Help intended for development is thought to be misused and often diverted for non-aided projects (projects other than those for which the aid was initially provided), rendering aid ineffective in achieving development and increasing poverty levels in the region.Another factor thought to be working against foreign aid's efficacy in reducing poverty and achieving economic development is a weak institutional structure for tracking and assessing foreign aid inflow and use. According to Chenery and Strout (2010),the ability to make effective use of external resources is determined by a variety of factors, one of which is institutional capacity. When an institution's structural structure is lacking, it is unable to make effective use of foreign assistance, which inevitably impedes growth. Thereforethis study centers on assessment of foreign aids programs on poverty reduction and economic development in Nigeria.

1. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

In line with the statement of research problems the broad objectives of the study is assessment of foreign aids programs on poverty reduction and economic development in Nigeria: while the specific objectives are;

1. To examine the factors that inhibits foreign aid effectiveness in Nigeria

2. To examine the impact of foreign aid programs on the measures of poverty in Nigeria

3. To examine relationship between foreign aids and Economic development in Nigeria

 4. To examine the causes of poverty in Nigeria

5. To recommend ways of reducing poverty through foreign aids in Nigeria

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions shall guide this study and in the course of this research, we shall attempt to find answers to the following questions:

1. What are the factors that inhibit foreign aid effectiveness in Nigeria?

2. What is the impact of foreign aid programs on the measures of poverty in Nigeria?

3. What is the relationship between foreign aids and Economic development in Nigeria?

 4. What are the causes of poverty in Nigeria?

5. What are the ways of reducing poverty through foreign aids in Nigeria?

1.5     HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

In line with the statement of research problems and the objectives of this thesis, the following hypothesis will be tested:

Hypothesis 1:

HO:Foreign aid programs do not have a significant impact on poverty reduction in Nigeria

H1:Foreign aid programs have a significant impact on poverty reduction in Nigeria

Hypothesis 2:

HO: Foreign aid programs do not have a significant relationship with Economic development in Nigeria

H1:Foreign aid programs have a significant relationship with Economic development in Nigeria

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

This study would enable the researcher to pass their experience on the subject matter to commercial centers,government ministries, NGOS, schools (students)to serve as a medium for further research.

1.7   SCOPE OF THE STUDY   

The study would cover assessment of foreign aids programs on poverty reduction and economic development in Nigeria

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The researcher was faced with the following constraints in carrying out this study:

Time: The time within the researcher is too short to carry on the detail study on this topic.

Resources: Another constraint of the researcher is financial resources to carry on the detail study of this topic.
Data: Another limitation to this study will be lack of data to make valid study on the research problem.

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

FOREIGN AID:foreign aid, the international transfer of capital, goods, or services from a country or international organization for the benefit of the recipient country or its population. Aid can be economic, military, or emergency humanitarian (e.g., aid given following natural disasters).

POVERTY:Poverty is the state of not having enough material possessions or income for a person's basic needs. Poverty may include social, economic, and political elements. Absolute poverty is the complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:In the economic study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and objectives

REDUCTION:The Act Or Process Of Reducing  or the State Of Being Reduced