This study investigates the paradoxical relationship between Nigeria’s abundant wealth and its persistent poverty, with a specific focus on how systemic corruption undermines national development and deepens inequality. Drawing on qualitative data from institutional reports, budget tracking documents, global corruption indices, World Bank poverty assessments, and investigative media articles, the research analyzes the structural mechanisms through which public wealth is diverted away from service delivery. Key findings from the EFCC 2023 Annual Report and BudgIT’s 2022–2023 budget implementation reviews reveal widespread fiscal leakages in the form of ghost projects, inflated contracts, and unexecuted budget lines. Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index and the World Bank’s multidimensional poverty statistics corroborate the widening gap between economic growth and human development outcomes. The study is anchored in Johan Galtung’s Structural Violence Theory, which frames corruption as an invisible yet institutionalized form of harm that deprives citizens of access to health care, education, housing, and economic opportunity. The evidence presented demonstrates that Nigeria’s poverty crisis is not a function of resource scarcity, but of systemic misallocation fueled by elite capture and state inefficiency. The study concludes by recommending structural reforms in fiscal accountability, community-led oversight, and the enforcement of anti-corruption laws to ensure equitable resource distribution
AMADI et al. (2026) studied this question.