Recently the depth and severity of extreme poverty in Nigeria has been alarming. And over the years, the government undertook some poverty reduction policies with the aim of reducing, if not totally eradicating, poverty. These policies were expected to at least raise the standard of living of Nigerians. The impact of these policies on alleviating poverty has been contentious. Some studies in the past have argued that the poor have benefited more from these policies, some found that there was positive real growth yet poverty and inequality still worsened, and this can be traced to the nature of growth pursued and the poverty reduction policies that underline it. This study empirically evaluates macroeconomic policies vis-a-vis pro-poor growth in Nigeria using secondary data covering the period 1960 to 2000. The study found among others that economic growth in Nigeria has been slightly pro-poor. That is, growth was actually weakly pro-poor. Also, those that are far below the poverty line have not really been enjoying the benefits of growth. In fact, the benefits getting to them has been decreasing at an increasing rate. And economic growth in rural areas will be slightly more pro-poor than in urban areas. Overall growth in Nigeria is not necessarily always pro-poor.
