Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

Table 2.10: Trends in Human Development for Nigeria, 1975 - 2005
YEAR HDI HPI-1 GEM GDI
1975 0.324 - - -
1980 0.385 - - -
1985 0.401 - - -
1990 0.430 - - -
1995 0.455 - - -
2000 - - - -
2002 0.466 35.1 - 0.458
2005 0.453 38.8 - 0.439
Source: UNDP 2004 and 2005.
Table 2.11: Comparative Analysis of Human Development Indices, 2005
AREA HDI HPI-1 GDI
Nigeria 0.453 38.8 0.439
Best performer in sub- 0.791 11.4 0.781
Saharan Africa
(Mauritius)
Worst performer in 0.281 64.4 0.271
sub-Saharan Africa
(Niger)
Best performer in the 0.963 3.6 0.960
world (Norway)
Nigeria’s world 158 th out of 75 th out of 123 rd out of
ranking 177 countries 103 countries 140 countries
*The GEM could not be computed for Nigeria due to data problems.
Source: UNDP 2005, Country Fact Sheets.
compared to the neighbouring Rivers and
Delta states. It is a clear indication of unequal
development, often because local
governments are not using resources generated
from oil to improve the lives of
local inhabitants.
Table 2.8 may not convey the entire picture
on ground. A number of the Niger
Delta states, including Bendel, Rivers and
Cross River, have higher (sometimes significantly)
levels of adult literacy than some
western states, such as Oyo, Ondo and
Ogun. Historically, the western states had
earlier access to education, and their Action
Group governments emphasized free
NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
education in the 1950s and 1960s. As a
result of low educational ratings, the three
Niger Delta states above are classified as
‘educationally disadvantaged’. Therefore,
the gulf between the HDI of 0.539 for
Rivers State and 0.126 for Ogun State
does not appear to reflect the actual quality
of human development in the two
states over time.
For 2005, Table 2.9 shows the average
HDI for the Niger Delta states as 0.564.
The average in 1992 was 0.472, with
Bendel (now Delta and Edo states) the
highest performing at 0.631. In table 2.8,
the highest performing state, Delta, has
The human development
situation in
Nigeria as a whole,
as measured by the
HDI, has declined,
although the drop
off appears to be
steeper for the Niger
Delta states than for
the rest of the
country.
An important limitation
of the HDI in the
Niger Delta region is
that the income data
used to compute the
per capita GDP component
include oil
revenue, much of
which is not retained
within the region.
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