Geospatial mapping of economic inequality distribution in Nigeria at the lowest administrative unit level based on night light data

Current data on Nigeria's economic inequality are available only on a limited national scale. The lack of detailed economic inequality data at Nigeria's lowest administrative levels obscures areas of high inequality within states and local government areas (LGAs). This knowledge gap significantly hampers stakeholders' efforts to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality, which aligns with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. This study addresses the need to generate economic inequality metrics at local administrative levels. We utilised openly sourced nightlight and gridded population data, which were integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) to calculate per capita emissions values at the grid cell level and subsequently determine the Gini index of inequality for the 774 LGAs in Nigeria. The findings indicate that Nigeria falls within the moderate Gini category. However, the Gini index revealed that most areas in the southern region exhibit relatively low and moderate Gini values, indicative of high-performing characteristics. The northern regions were classified as areas with moderate to high Gini values. While this study represents the initial attempt to provide local inequality data for Nigeria and Africa, its findings illuminate areas of high economic inequality at the small administrative level.