OYERINOLA DAVID SUNDAY2026-05-252026-05-252026-04Social expenditure, Real gross domestic product, Education, Defence, Communication and Technology, Economic growth, Nigeriahttps://uilspace.unilorin.edu.ng/handle/123456789/18461High rates of unemployment, poverty, and income inequality are just a few of the ongoing socioeconomic issues that Nigeria has to deal with. The government has poured a lot of money into social spending programs to address these problems, but socioeconomic problems still exist. It is against this background that this paper aims to examine the social expenditure on human capital formation and economic growth nexus in Nigeria. The paper investigated this relationship for the period 1989 to 2024 as Nigeria is in state of downturn effects, and adopted the robust generalized OLS regression model. This paper used real domestic product as dependent variable, while education, defence, communication, technology and physical capital formation. The empirical outcomes obtained in this paper indicate that education and defence expenditure have negative insignificant effects on the economic growth, while communication and technology and physical capital formation have positive significant nexus with economic growth. The paper's findings highlight the vital role that government spending on social protection plays in promoting Nigeria sustained economic expansion. To better match the educational system, and security with the goals of economic growth, specific reforms or increased efficiency may be necessary, as evidenced by the insignificance of government spending on education and defence. For policymakers looking to maximize the effect of social investment on Nigerian economic growth, this paper offers insightful information overall.enArticle