UNRAVELLING THE NEXUS: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ON CORRUPTION AND INEQUALITY IN NIGERIA 1999 – 2025

Corruption and inequality are perennial challenges facing Nigeria’s development since independence of 1960. Efforts to eliminate the menace remain fruitless as it rather persists, undermining the nation’s socio-economic progress. This survey research examines the interconnectivity between corruption and inequality among the people of Nigeria, relatively to overall quality of life, income, poverty and human capital development. It adopts mixed- methods approach by engaging qualitative and quantitative data for analysis and rests majorly on Public Service Delivery Theory (PSDT) as its theoretical framework, so as to provide insights into the dynamics in corruption phenomenon, heightening inequality among majority of Nigerians. Purposive sampling technique aided the determination of four hundred (400) respondents on whom structured close-ended four-point scale Likert questionnaire were administered to generate data. The research utilised simple percentage (%) and chi-square to analyse data and test hypotheses established. It concludes that, corruption is quite antithetical to socio-economic development. It significantly affects the overall quality of life, causing stratification among humans and social groups, individually and collectively. Therefore, it recommends that to achieve the “ideal state”, there was need for those in government to adhere strictly with the provisions of the 1999 Constitutions as amended, and the judiciary to maintain ethical standards in the adjudication of justice on corruption cases, mindless of who is/are involved.