Buildings and Facilities Maintenance Projects in Nigerian Universities: An InstitutionalLeadership Approach

Abstract

Top university management has decisive roles to play in creating a maintenance culture of
university buildings and facilities. Quality and functional buildings and facilities not only
promotes healthy living within the university community, they also improve students’
intellectual output. This research evaluates the top university management leadership roles
and behaviours. In term of maintenance of buildings and facilities in their universities,
descriptive survey was employed with structured questionnaire as research design and
administered to five randomly selected universities in Nigeria’s South-South geopolitical
region. The questionnaires were administered to directors of works and physical planning
units, directors of budget and planning, directors of maintenance units and manages in the
offices of works and physical planning, budgeting and maintenance units of the three selected
federal universities and two state universities in the study area. The findings revealed absence
of visionary leadership and lack of commitment in the appointment of maintenance officer,
bribery and corruption, compromising on the use of substandard materials, and faculty design
and specification of substandard materials as major causative agents. The study therefore,
recommends that directors of works and physical planning, director of budgeting, director of
maintenance units and mangers should administrate visible leadership and commitment
towards building effective maintenance culture in their universities. Furthermore, the
University leadership should have reserved funds for the maintenance of institutional buildings
and facilities.