The paper attempts a quantitative and qualitative assessment of vulnerability to poverty
in Nigeria. In qualitative terms, the paper noted that weak governance structure in the
form of absence of rule of law, lack of political effectiveness and efficiency and high
level of insecurity are major sources of vulnerability to poverty in Nigeria. The
macroeconomic environment especially in terms of sluggish growth, low capacity
utilization in the manufacturing sector and high rates of unemployment have increased
vulnerability to poverty in Nigeria. However, in quantitative terms, the study applied he
Chaudhuri (2000) methodology to assess the level of vulnerability to poverty in Nigeria.
The choice of methodology was guided by the type of data available in the country. The
findings of the study shows that 87% of Nigerians are vulnerable to poverty. The study
further shows that while 41.2% of the population fall into chronic poverty, only 18.1%
of the population are vulnerable to chronic poverty. The study also shows that 68.5% of
the population are highly vulnerable, whereas only 31.5% of the population have low
mean vulnerability. While the paper noted that building a strong and virile governance
structure can help to reduce vulnerability in Nigeria, the paper also recommends a propoor
growth macroeconomic policy environment that would allow the vulnerable and
the poor to make use of their hidden assets.