Assessing the effect of inadequate service provision on the quality of life of the poor: A focus on justice and education in Nigeria

In Africa, research and studies have adversely relegated the effects of inadequate service provision on the poor to the background. Yet, quagmires resulting from severe strike actions, agitations and revolutions are grasped throughout the continent. This paper tends to ponder on the effect of inadequate service delivery on the quality of life of the poor with a focus on education and health in Nigeria. A mixed method was used for data collective; (quasi) quantitative and qualitative medium were exploited to gather data for this paper. A descriptive method based on empirical data and narrative literature analysis was used to demarcate the paper into themes. It found among others that over 70% of inmates in Nigerian prisons are on awaiting trial. It also demonstrated that the tripartite alliance of institutional failure, corruption and poor leadership (self-serving leaders) inhibits the provision of basic services in the country. In conclusion, cronyism, cabalism, nepotism and sycophancy, including inadequate interaction of systems, institutions and structures are decried as the bane of Nigeria’s underdevelopment, which have had adverse negative effects on the educational and judicial sectors thereby undermining the well-being of the poor.