International Journal of Business, Economics and Management 2312-5772 2312-0916 10.18488/journal.62.2019.64.186.200 International Journal of Business, Economics and Management The Impact of Military Spending on Economic Wellbeing in Nigeria International Journal of Business, Economics and Management International Journal of Business, Economics and Management 05-2019 2019 05-2019 05-2019 6 4 186 200 15 Feb 2019 07 May 2019 The impact of military spending on domestic output is contentious and therefore requires further analysis on a country by country basis to determine its level of significance. Nigeria’s military contributions to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region and the recent rise of various insurgencies, particularly, Jam??at Ahl al-Sunna lil-Da?awah wa al-Jih?d’ (Boko Haram) – arguably the most fatal insurgent group – has increased Nigeria’s military expenditure. This study investigates the impact of this increase in military spending on the economic well-being (measured by GDP per capita) of Nigerians using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to co-integration for the period from 1988 to 2017. The results suggest that there is a positive relationship between military spending and economic well-being in Nigeria. However, the impact on citizens’ wellbeing is not instantaneous as the variable is only significant after the current year spending; which does not last longer than a year. The study therefore recommends that defense spending be strategic, and that all earmarked funds for defense be deployed appropriately so that increases in wellbeing can be more long-term as opposed to lasting for only one year.