MAPPING SOCIAL FAULT LINES A SOCIAL STUDY OF POVERTY, INEQUALITY, AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR A NEW NIGERIA

Nigeria’s development trajectory over the past six decades has been characterized by vast human and natural resource endowments paradoxically coexisting with widespread poverty, entrenched inequality, and uneven socio-economic progress. This paper examines the structural fault lines that shape poverty and inequality in Nigeria and interrogates the persistent failure of growth patterns to translate into broad-based social welfare. Drawing from empirical data, interdisciplinary social-science literature, and global development frameworks, the study critically analyzes the economic, political, demographic, and institutional drivers of exclusion. It argues that Nigeria’s growth model historically consumption-driven, resource-dependent, and structurally unequal has produced a development paradox where economic expansion coexists with worsening multidimensional poverty. Grounded in social-justice theory, political-economy approaches, and human-development perspectives, the article maps key vulnerabilities embedded in governance structures, regional disparities, class stratification, gender inequalities, youth unemployment, and the urban-rural divide. The study proposes a multidimensional agenda for inclusive growth rooted in institutional reform, equitable distribution, social protection, climate-responsive policies, human-capital investment, and participatory governance. It concludes that a new Nigeria requires not merely economic expansion, but a complete restructuring of development pathways that place human welfare at the center of national transformation.