Government Expenditure on Defence and Internal Security A Prerequisite for Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth and Development. 1994 2020

Government expenditure on defence and internal security has been on the increase in the last few decades making it vital to look at its effect on the growth and development of the economy. The study examined the Government expenditure on defence and internal security a prerequisite for achieving sustainable economic growth and development in Nigeria. The study used time series data, from 1994 2020. The issue of security has become a serious threat to sustainable development in any economy and it has become a great concern in view of its escalating trend. The objective of the study is to determine the effect of government expenditure on defence and internal security on economic growth and development in Nigeria. The data employed were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria publications and World Bank World Development Indicators WDI . The study was anchored on progressive theory of public expenditure. The dependent variables for the study are economic growth proxy by real gross domestic product RGDP and economic development proxy by Human development index HDI while the independent variables are recurrent government expenditure on defence and internal security. The data were analyzed using Vector Autoregressive Estimates VAR to ascertain the effect of government recurrent expenditure on defence and internal security on economic growth and development at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the impact of government recurrent expenditure on defence and internal security on RGDP and HDI is insignificant within the period under review. Therefore, the study recommends that government should invest more on defence and security and also design a device to ensure all the expenditures on Security and defence are considered guardedly as to consolidate on the gains realized so far. Okeke Ijeoma Chinwe | Chukwu, Kenechukwu Origin | Ogbonnaya-Udo, Nneka "Government Expenditure on Defence and Internal Security: A Prerequisite for Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth and Development. 1994-2020" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-6 , October 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd47552.pdf Paper URL : https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/accounting-and-finance/47552/government-expenditure-on-defence-and-internal-security-a-prerequisite-for-achieving-sustainable-economic-growth-and-development-19942020/okeke-ijeoma-chinwe