https://ojs.acad-pub.com/index.php/FEFS <p><em>Forum for Economic and Financial Studies</em> (FEFS) is an international, scholarly open access journal on the topic of financial economics. It publishes theoretical and empirical research papers in economics and finance. We also welcome theoretical and econometric innovations, providing the relevance for researchers and policymakers is clearly elucidated. There is no restriction on the maximum length of the papers, we encourage scientists to publish their research in as much detail as possible.</p> Academic Publishing Pte. Ltd. en-US Forum for Economic and Financial Studies 3029-2875 https://ojs.acad-pub.com/index.php/FEFS/article/view/2852 <p>Despite the enormous resource wealth and human capital of Nigeria, poverty has become endemic among its population. Thus, this paper assessed the role of human capital investment and institutions in mitigating poverty in Nigeria between 1990 and 2023. By employing the autoregressive distributed lag technique, the paper demonstrated that human capital has a weak effect in decelerating poverty levels in the country. Specifically, while public investment in education and health has no significant long-term impacts on poverty, an increase in employment significantly reduces poverty levels for Nigeria. Conversely, institutions were found to aid the rising trend of poverty in the country, with dysfunctionality in government effectiveness and politically motivated violence being significantly responsible. Thus, the study recommends an increase in funding for the health and educational sectors and an enabling environment for sophisticated manpower investment to further boost income levels against poverty incidences. Also, the dysfunctionality in the institutional workings of the country will need to be tamed before the dividends of governance can effectively tackle poverty.</p> Samson Adeniyi Aladejare Timothy Odzie Patrick Akani Odey Copyright (c) 2025 Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 2025-04-01 2025-04-01 3 2 2852 2852 10.59400/fefs2852