Article History JEL Classification:F33, F34, F35, O11.After about a decade of exiting sovereign debt havoc; there is now another panic that a new sovereign-debt problem may loom in Nigeria given the current rising debt profile in the country. In this light ,this paper sought to enhance the existing literature on the debt growth-nexus by analyzing the relationship between debt variables and economic growth within Solow (1956) growth framework. The study adopted econometric technique of Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) model and applied on time-series data for Nigeria spanning between 1981 and 2016. The results show that external debt is negatively related with economic growth in both short and long runs. The evidence suggests that increase in external debt will lead to decline in economic growth. Based on the findings, the study suggests that debt service obligation should not be allowed to rise more than foreign exchange earnings and that the loan contracted should be invested in profitable and productive ventures, which will generate a reasonable amount of money for debt repayment. Contribution/ Originality:This study contributes to the existing literature on debt-growth nexus by incorporating various debt components and adopting one of the advanced methodological approaches in analysing the effect of external debt on economic growth.

The study employed the Probit regression on the National Bureau of Statistics general households survey data to appraise the effect of financial literacy on financial inclusion in Niger State. The estimation result shows that financial literacy positively and statistically influences financial inclusion options (account ownership, bank access, and credit access) in Niger state. Similarly, education status, age, and gender are determinants of financial inclusion. The study concluded that financial literacy is necessary for achieving financial inclusion. To encourage financial inclusion among youth, the government should include financial education in secondary school and tertiary to teach skills and information on how to utilize and manage financial services and products. The central bank should also mandate the financial institutions to establish customer financial advisory units to educate their clients on managing and using financial products and services available to them to create wealth, thus improving living standards.

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