Factor Analysis of the Spatial Pattern of Socio-economic Development in Adamawa State

This paper examined factors responsible for the spatial pattern of socio-economic development in Adamawa State. The objectives of the study include identifying factors responsible for the spatial pattern of socioeconomic development in Adamawa State, and examining effects of the spatial pattern on communities in the State. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. While respondents’ opinions on the spatial pattern of socioeconomic indicators and development was sought from primary sources, the number of socio-economic facilities in each LGA and at the state level (secondary data) were provided by different units/departments including Works & Services, Education, Health, and Quality Assurance, etc, in each of the 21 LGAs in Adamawa State, and various supervising States’ Ministries and Boards among other sources. Multistage sampling techniques were used to sample 386 household heads (309 male and 77 female) from the 12 purposefully selected LGAs for questionnaire administration. Subsequently, socio-economic data collected were coded into Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 21, subjected to factor analysis and descriptive statistics. Findings from the study revealed the main drivers of the spatial pattern of socio-economic development in Adamawa State. Also, the uneven spatial pattern of development in the state is reported to have significant negative impacts on the development of the state and the people therein. Therefore, in other to eliminate, or at least reduce, spatial inequality in the level of development in Adamawa State, sufficient provision and equitable distribution of the identified drivers across the various geographic units in the State was suggested.