THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND POVERTY REDUCTION: A PROGNOSTIC ANALYSIS OF THE CAPITAL MARKET OPTION IN NIGERIA

Nigeria adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) policy as a remedial measure to addressing her persistent political, economic and social problems. Embedded in the millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is the reduction of poverty and the liberalization of the financial sector with emphasis on the capital market. This was ostensibly geared towards improving the sector's performance, increase its growth returns and invariably alleviates the poverty of Nigerians. Many scholars have questioned the potentials of the capital market to reduce poverty and inequality in developing countries due to market instability, fluctuating exchange and interest rates regime, volatility in prices of equity instruments and unholy insider practices. This paper argued that the capital market has the potentials of alleviating poverty and reduce inequality in the long run given the necessary investment motivation. Investment in equity instruments like shares, bonds and other debt instruments and its associated bonus and dividends benefits has the potentials of reducing the poverty level of the masses especially where corporate governance dictates business relations. The paper therefore recommends awareness creation and the creation of capital trade point for local resource mobilization for investment as alternative strategies for poverty reduction in Nigeria.