Effects of Ethnic Diversity and Poverty on Crime Rate in Nigeria

Abstract

Ethnic diversity in Nigeria and its effects on the poor is endemic. Among the various ethnic diversity, there is high rate of criminal activities and poverty. This study examine the effects of ethnic diversity and poverty on crime in Nigeria. Further, this study tested annual time series based on Nigeria data from 1970 to 2017. While noting endogeneity in the nature of the variable based on literature. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model Instrumental Variables used to estimate the model. Estimated result showed that the variables co-integrated at the 1% level of significance. In addition, ethnic heterogeneity, poverty, and under five mortality significant to cause crime. Income growth and security expenditure have significant reduction effect on crime. Thus, this paper suggested to the policy makers to embark on income generation and good health care programmes for the poor. Also, adequate and up-to-date skills and apparatus be given to the security personnel to control crime.