The nature of the relationship between the twin problem of poverty and unemployment has been unclear recently. Although the nature of the relationship has received more extensive scholarly attention worldwide and even in Nigeria, no study raised on the nature of its relationship in the region (state) which might produce an inverse relationship different from the proportionate obtained in previous studies. Hence the study on the relationship between poverty and unemployment in Niger state, Nigeria, using descriptive and a logistics regression model to analyze the 102 cross-sectional data randomly collected from the three geopolitical regions in the state. The result thus shows the existence of a proportionate relationship between poverty and unemployment, following the pattern of previous studies. The study thus recommends the actions of the policymakers in creating vocational skill programs to the aid-curb unemployment problem in the state. Accordingly, the increase in expenditure on education and the minimum wage as well recommended.

This study employs the cross sectional survey research design and the descriptive and ordinary least square regressions to examine the impact of Electronic-Payment Systems on the financial performance of Microfinance Banks and Institutions in Niger state, Nigeria. The results of the analysis indicate the presence of e-payment systems in the bank, which enjoys impressive acceptability, due to its ease of use and convenience. In addition, ATM facility, Internet payment options, e-payment cards, and mobile banking platforms shows a significant positive impact on the financial performance of COE-Minna microfinance bank. In essence, the improvement and review of e-payment platforms’ security, so as to attract more users, coupled with the reduction of charges associated with the use of the platforms as well as sensitization of potential users were recommended.

This study employs Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to co-integration and Granger causality technique to empirically examines the nature of relationship between infant mortality and public expenditure on health in Nigeria from 1980 – 2016. In addition, the study considers the roles of immunization, private health expenditure and external health resources on infant mortality in Nigeria. Among other things, the empirical results indicate the presence of significant conintegrating (long-run) relationship between infant mortality and government health expenditure (and private health expenditure, immunization and external health resources), coupled with the existence of bi-directional causal relationship between infant mortality and government health expenditure. In addition, the results also demonstrate that, government health expenditure, private health expenditure, immunization, and external health resources significantly influence infant mortality negatively both in the long and short term. Although, private health spending is shown as the major determinant of the reduction of infant mortality rate in Nigeria, due to the size of the coefficient of private health expenditure. In essence, the total overhaul of the Nigerian health sector, so as to improve the efficiency of the sector, as well curb the incidents of fund mismanagement which has plagued the sector overtime, coupled with the intensifying of immunization programs and activities are however recommended.

This study employs the logistic regression method to examine the effect of financial inclusion on the level of poverty in Niger State of Nigeria based on cross-sectional data randomly collected from 624 respondents across 224 towns and villages in 12 local government areas (LGAs) of the state. The estimation results illustrate that financial inclusion (proxied by bank account ownership, including access to bank, credit, and mobile phone) is significantly and negatively related to the level of poverty. This empirical outcome is further validated by the results of the Probit regression technique which show a significant negative relationship between financial inclusion and poverty in the state. Based on these empirical findings, the study recommends policies which include broadening bank coverage, softening credit requirements, and enhancement of people’s access to mobile phone and internet services in rural areas of Niger state.

This study employs the bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach alongside the dynamic ARDL simulations technique to investigate the non-linear effect of public debt on public expenditure in Nigeria during the 1981–2020 period. The result of the bootstrap bounds test illustrates the presence of a long-term relationship between public expenditure and public debt (along with oil rents, output growth and urbanisation). Further, the estimation results indicate that the effect of public debt on public expenditure is non-linear. In particular, public expenditure increases at early stages of rising public debt but declines at latter phases when public debt grows beyond specific threshold. This empirical outcome is further validated by the dynamic ARDL simulations approach which shows a significant decline in predicted public expenditure after short-term expansion due to counterfactual shock in public debt. Thus, policies which diversify public revenue from oil production and a reversal of the rising trend in public debt are recommended to avert the adverse welfare implications of declining public expenditure.