This study appraises non-monetary multidimensional poverty in Nigeria using the novel
first order dominance approach developed by Arndt et al. (2012). It examines five dimensions of
deprivation: education, water, sanitation, shelter, and energy-using comparable datasets, the
Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys of 1999, 2003, and 2008 for national, regional, and zonal
analysis, and the Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard Survey of 2008/09 as well as the Nigeria
Living Standard Survey of 2003/04 for state analysis. The results are quite robust and lend support
to the general view that poverty in Nigeria has not kept pace with the rapid economic growth
attained in the last decade. The country registered only fewer gains in non-income poverty. There
was a marginal change of -0.21 in the percentage of the population experiencing acute deprivation
between 1999 and 2008 and only one of the indicators (sanitation) recorded a substantial positive
change. The spatial first order dominance comparisons indicate that regional inequalities remain
profound with huge disparities in states as shown by the bootstrap. Ten of the worst-ranked states
are located in the northern part of the country.