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Author:
Akinwale Peter Akintunde, Longinus Chukwuma Ejiogu, Adonikam Ugochukwu Nnanna, Olajide Yomi Bamigbaye
National Agricultural Seeds Council, Abuja, Nigeria.

DOI: doi.org/10.58924/rjhss.v4.iss6.p3

Published Date: 29-Dec, 2025

Keywords: Social services, expenditure efficiency, human development, education, health

Abstract:
Nigeria's investment in human capital through education and health expenditure has remained consistently low relative to international benchmarks and development needs. This study evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of federal government spending on education and health services from 2000 to 2023, examining the relationship between expenditure levels and human development outcomes. Government expenditure on education in Nigeria was reported at 4.4% of total government expenditure in 2023, significantly below UNESCO's recommended 20% benchmark. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with bootstrap confidence intervals and two-stage regression approaches, this research assesses the technical efficiency of social service expenditure and identifies factors constraining optimal resource utilization. The analysis reveals that despite nominal increases from ₦73.18 billion to ₦1,221.62 billion (16.7-fold growth), efficiency scores remain critically suboptimal, with average technical efficiency of 0.34 for education and 0.28 for health expenditure. Furthermore, efficiency deteriorated over time, declining from 0.385 (2000-2005) to 0.275 (2021-2023). The study identifies significant resource misallocation, with personnel costs consuming 78.2% of education budgets against optimal levels of 60%, while infrastructure investment remains severely underfunded. Cross-sectoral complementarity analysis demonstrates that coordinated investments yield 19% higher returns than isolated sectoral approaches. Policy recommendations focus on rebalancing expenditure composition, enhancing public economic management systems, improving service delivery mechanisms, and developing integrated strategies that maximize education-health synergies to achieve potential annual savings of ₦275.7 billion.

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