Queen Eyikorogha
Department of Political Science
Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State
Email: eyikoroghaqq@fuotuoke.edu.ng
Phone No. +234 (0)8130100199
Abstract
The paper examines the impact of poverty on crime rate in Nigeria. The major objectives of the paper are focused on the major causes of poverty in Nigeria; identify the level of crime in Nigeria and to examine the influence of poverty on crime rate in Nigeria. The paper adopts the relative theory to explain how people take action to acquire opportunities and wealth that others possesses and which they believe to also have equal opportunity to acquire. The paper was based on secondary sources of data. The findings of the study revealed that the major cause of poverty in Nigeria is corruption from government officials in form of diversion of funds meant for development, lack of economic activities and illiteracy. The study also discovered that most of the criminal activities are perpetrated as a result of poor economic conditions especially among the low income populace. The paper concluded that poverty is the major cause of high crime rate in Nigeria. The paper recommends among others that Nigerian political leaders who are entrusted with the wealth of the nation should be transparent to ensure that social amenities are provided to the rural people to boost economic activities. More efforts should be made to ensure that most of the rural populace has an education and micro credit schemes should be strengthened to reach the real poor populace in order boost small scale businesses in Nigeria.
References
Aigbokhan, B. E. (2000). Poverty, Growth and Inequality in Nigeria: A Case Study
BBC News. 2012-01-24Nigeria profile. retrieved from bbc.co.uk.
Brookings Institution (2018). The start of a new poverty narrative. Retrieved 27/6/2019. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future…/2018/06/…/the-start-of-a-new-poverty-narrative
Canagarajah, S. and Thomas, S. (1 August 2001). “Poverty in a Wealthy Economy: The Case of Nigeria”. Journal of African Economies. 10(2): 143–173. doi:10.1093/jae/10.2.143 – via Oxford University Press Journals Current.
Compassion International, (2020) Poverty defined. Retrieved from
Duffield, C. (2010-09-28). The illegal but lucrative trade in educational materials, for instance, cripples the work of teachers“. Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
Easton, M. (17 June 2010). “What is crime?”. BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.SBN 978-0-19-929054-3), p. 263 (Google Books).. Retrieved 2012-03-2
Farmer, L. (2008): Crime, definitions of, in Cane and Conoghan (editors), The New Oxford Companion to Law, Oxford University Press, 2008
Longley, R. (2018). All About Relative Deprivation and Deprivation Theory. Science, Tech, Math › Social Sciences,
Martin, E.A. (2003). Oxford Dictionary of Law (7 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860756-4.
National Bureau of Statistics (2017). Crime Statistics: Reported Offences by Type and State, 2016.
National Bureau of Statistics. (2015) “Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report Q2 2015”. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
Papaioannou, K.J. (2017).Hunger makes a thief of any man”: Poverty and crime in British colonial Asia European Review of Economic History, Volume 21, Issue 1, February 2017, Pages 1–28, https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hew019
Williams Y. (2003). What Is Relative Poverty? – Definition, Causes & Examples at https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-relative-poverty-definition-causes-examples.html
World Bank. Nigeria poverty Profile. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
World Bank (2019). Poverty overview https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview
For more details click here