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  3. Vol. 17 No. 1-2 (2019): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Issue on Higher Education Leadership in Africa
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Vol. 17 No. 1-2 (2019): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Issue on Higher Education Leadership in Africa

Issue Published : October 14, 2020

7 - Leadership Challenges of Middle-level Academics in Universities in Nigeria

https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v17i1-2.1466
Olugbemiga Samuel Afolabi

Corresponding Author(s) : Olugbemiga Samuel Afolabi

oafolabi@uj.ac.za

Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Vol. 17 No. 1-2 (2019): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Issue on Higher Education Leadership in Africa
Article Published : January 10, 2022

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Abstract

One key issue confronting universities in Nigeria is the leadership challenges facing middle-level academics, especially at the Senior Lecturer cadre. This problem is rooted in a lack of leadership preparation and training for this category of academics. Through primary data sourced from interviews and secondary data, this paper analyses the underlying challenges middle-level academics face that inhibit their effective performance in leadership posts to which they have been appointed. The analysis is with a view to understanding and proffering possible solutions to the leadership challenges of middle-level academics in universities in Nigeria.

Keywords

Leadership Academics Universities Nigeria

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Afolabi, O. S. (2022). 7 - Leadership Challenges of Middle-level Academics in Universities in Nigeria. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 17(1-2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v17i1-2.1466
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References
  1. Afolabi, O.S., 2020, ‘Conducting focus group discussion in Africa: researching the nexus between the state and election administration’, SAGE Research Methods Cases, London: SAGE.
  2. Afolabi, O.S. and Omal, F., 2020, ‘Institutional transformation and stakeholders’ engagement for quality management model in African higher education’, in Sony, M., Karingada, K. T. and Baporikar, N., eds., Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies, PA: Hershey, pp. 1-402.
  3. Afolabi, O.S. and Idowu, H.A., 2020, ‘African universities quality management challenges vis-a-vis higher education genda’, in Sony, M., Karingada, K. T. and Baporikar, N., eds., Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies, PA: Hershey, pp. 1-402.
  4. Afolabi, O.S., 2019a, ‘Cultural narratives, Africanist philosophy and the question of knowledge in Africa,’ in Fasiku O., ed., Philosophy and Culture: Interrogating the Nexus, Abuja, CBAAC, pp. 201-223.
  5. Afolabi, O.S., 2019b, ‘Globalisation and the political economy of knowledge production in Africa’, A paper presented at a conference titled ‘Extraction, Expropriation, Erasure?: Knowledge Production in International Relations’ which held from 19th to 20th October 2019, at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.
  6. Ahunanya, S., and Osakwe T., 2012, ‘Private Universities in Nigeria: Emergent Realities and Coping Strategies’, Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, vol. 3 no. 5, pp. 695-700.
  7. Ajayi, J.F.A., Goma, L.K.H. and Johnson, G.A., 1996, The African Experience with Higher Education, Athens: Ohio University Press.
  8. Alemu K.B., et al., Shaping Research Universities in the Nile Basin Countries, Book 1, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
  9. Badat, S., 2008, ‘Redressing the colonial/apartheid legacy: social equity, redress and higher education admissions in democratic South Africa’, Paper presented at the Conference on Affirmative Action in Higher Education in India, the United States and South Africa, New Delhi, India.
  10. Bassey, M.O., 2009, ‘Higher education and the rise of early political elites in Africa’, in Review of Higher Education in Africa, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 30-38.
  11. Bassey, M.O., 1999’, Western Education and Political Domination in Africa: A Study in Critical and Dialogical Pedagogy, Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
  12. Betts, R.F., 2004, Decolonisation, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge.
  13. Bowling, A., 2002, Research Methods in Health: Investigating Health and Health Services, 2nd ed., Buckingham: Open University Press
  14. Bryman, A., 2007, ‘Barriers to integrating quantitative and qualitative research’, in Journal of Mixed Methods Research, vol. I, no. 1, pp. 8-22.
  15. Cohen, L. and Manion, L., 1997, Research Methods in Education, 4th ed., London: Routledge.
  16. Council of Higher Education, 2004, ‘South African higher education in the first decade of democracy’, Concept Document, CHE, Pretoria.
  17. David, M. and Sutton, C.D., 2004, Social Research: The Basics, London: SAGE Publications.
  18. Davis, A., Rensburg, M.J. and Venter, P., 2016, ‘The impact of managerialism on the strategy work of university middle managers’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 1480-1494.
  19. De Boer, H., Geodegebuure, L. and Meek, V.L., 2009, ‘The challenging nature of academic middle management: a framework for analysis’, in Meek, V.L., Geodegebuure, L., Santiago, R. and Carvalho, T., eds., The Changing Dynamics of Higher Education Middle Management, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 225-237.
  20. Department of Education, 1997, Education White Paper 3: A Programmeme for Higher Education Transformation, Pretoria: Government Printers.
  21. Duara, P., 2004, Decolonisation: Perspectives from Now and Then, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge.
  22. Essack S. and Hindle, D.B., 2019, ‘Republic of South Africa: an enduring tale of two unequal systems’, in Stevens P., and Dworkin, A., eds., The Palgrave Handbook of Race and Ethnic Inequalities in Education, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 931-998.
  23. Federal Ministry of Education, 14, Visitation panel reports to all federal universities, Abuja: Federal Ministry of Education.
  24. Fiske, E.B, and Ladd, H.F., 2004, Elusive Equity: Education Reform in Post-apartheid South Africa, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
  25. Heleta, S., 2016, ‘Decolonisation of higher education: dismantling epistemic violence and eurocentrism in South Africa’, Transformation in Higher Education, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-8.
  26. Lloyd, P.C., 1966, The New Elites of Tropical Africa, London: Oxford University Press.
  27. Lulat, Y. G-M., 2005, A History of African Higher Education from Antiquity to the Present: A Critical Synthesis, Connecticut: Praeger.
  28. Mamdani, M., 2007, Scholars in the Market Place: The Dilemmas of Neo-liberal Reforms at Makerere University, 1989-2005, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
  29. Materu, P., 2007, ‘Higher education quality assurance in sub-saharan Africa: status, challenges, opportunities, and promising practices’, World Bank Working Paper No. 124, Washington, DC: World Bank.
  30. Merrianm, S.B., 1998, Qualitative and Case Study Applications in Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  31. McKeever, M., 2017, ‘Educational inequality in apartheid South Africa’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 114-131.
  32. Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M., 1994, Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  33. Mushemeza, E.D., 2016, ‘Opportunities and challenges of academic staff in higher education in Africa’, International Journal of Higher Education, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 236-246.
  34. National Universities Commission, 2019, Nigerian Universities. Available at https://nuc.edu.ng/nigerian-univerisities/state-univerisity/, accessed 20 January 2020
  35. National Universities Commission, 2016a, 2016 Annual Report, Abuja: NUC.
  36. National Universities Commission, 2016b, ‘NUC Takes Far-reaching Decisions with Vice Chancellors’, NUC Bulletin no ISSN 0795-3089, vol. 11, no. 42.
  37. National Universities Commission-World Bank Report, 2012, Labour Market Observatory Report, Abuja: NUC.
  38. Okebukola, P.A.O., 2018, Exemplary Attributes of University Councils, National Universities Commission Monograph Series, vol. 2, no. 2., Abuja: NUC.
  39. Okebukola, P.A.O., 2016, Attributes of Successful Vice-chancellors, Lagos: OSF.
  40. Okurame, D.E., 2008, ‘Mentoring in the Nigerian academia: experiences and challenges’, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 45-56.
  41. Olayinka, A., 2017, Nigerian universities lack manpower, tools to compete globally, The Guardian Newspapers, April 6, 2017. Available at https://guardian.ng/interview/nigerian-universities-lack-manpower-tools-to-compete-globally-says-
  42. uis-vc-abel-olayinka/, accessed on May 30, 2019.
  43. O’Leary, Z., 2005, Researching Real-world Problems: A Guide to Methods of Inquiry, London: Sage.
  44. Onukwugha, A., 2018, ‘How proliferation of state universities has impacted negatively on education sector in Nigeria’, Leadership Newspapers, January 12 2018. Available at https://leadership.ng/2018/01/12/proliferation-state-universities-impacted-negatively- education-sector-nigeria/, accessed on March 30, 2019
  45. Sawyer, A., 2004, ‘Challenges facing African universities: Selected Issues’, African Studies Review, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 1-59.
  46. Sony, M., Karingada, K. T. and Baporikar, N., 2020, Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies, Hershey, PA: IGI Global University.
  47. Smith, J.A., and Dunworth, F., 2003, ‘Qualitative methodology’, in Valsiner, J., ed., Handbook of Development Psychology, Sage, London, pp. 603-621.
  48. Tarusikirwa, M.C. and Mafa, O., 2017, ‘Internationalisation in higher education: challenges for research collaboration for academics in developing countries (Zimbabwe)’, International Journal of Asian Social Science, vol. 7 no. 2,
  49. pp. 140-149.
  50. Teferra, D. and Altbach, P.G., 2004, ‘African higher education: challenges for the 21st century’, Higher Education, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 21-50.
  51. World News, 2013, Lessons and challenges for higher education in Africa, 31 August, Issue No. 285.
  52. Woldegiorgis, E.T. and Doevenspeck, M., 2013. ‘The changing role of higher education in Africa: a historical reflection’, Higher Education Studies, no. 3, pp. 6. Zeleza, P.T. and Olukoshi, A., eds., 2004, African Universities in the Twenty-first Century, South Africa: UNISA Press.
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References


Afolabi, O.S., 2020, ‘Conducting focus group discussion in Africa: researching the nexus between the state and election administration’, SAGE Research Methods Cases, London: SAGE.

Afolabi, O.S. and Omal, F., 2020, ‘Institutional transformation and stakeholders’ engagement for quality management model in African higher education’, in Sony, M., Karingada, K. T. and Baporikar, N., eds., Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies, PA: Hershey, pp. 1-402.

Afolabi, O.S. and Idowu, H.A., 2020, ‘African universities quality management challenges vis-a-vis higher education genda’, in Sony, M., Karingada, K. T. and Baporikar, N., eds., Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies, PA: Hershey, pp. 1-402.

Afolabi, O.S., 2019a, ‘Cultural narratives, Africanist philosophy and the question of knowledge in Africa,’ in Fasiku O., ed., Philosophy and Culture: Interrogating the Nexus, Abuja, CBAAC, pp. 201-223.

Afolabi, O.S., 2019b, ‘Globalisation and the political economy of knowledge production in Africa’, A paper presented at a conference titled ‘Extraction, Expropriation, Erasure?: Knowledge Production in International Relations’ which held from 19th to 20th October 2019, at the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.

Ahunanya, S., and Osakwe T., 2012, ‘Private Universities in Nigeria: Emergent Realities and Coping Strategies’, Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, vol. 3 no. 5, pp. 695-700.

Ajayi, J.F.A., Goma, L.K.H. and Johnson, G.A., 1996, The African Experience with Higher Education, Athens: Ohio University Press.

Alemu K.B., et al., Shaping Research Universities in the Nile Basin Countries, Book 1, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.

Badat, S., 2008, ‘Redressing the colonial/apartheid legacy: social equity, redress and higher education admissions in democratic South Africa’, Paper presented at the Conference on Affirmative Action in Higher Education in India, the United States and South Africa, New Delhi, India.

Bassey, M.O., 2009, ‘Higher education and the rise of early political elites in Africa’, in Review of Higher Education in Africa, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 30-38.

Bassey, M.O., 1999’, Western Education and Political Domination in Africa: A Study in Critical and Dialogical Pedagogy, Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Betts, R.F., 2004, Decolonisation, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge.

Bowling, A., 2002, Research Methods in Health: Investigating Health and Health Services, 2nd ed., Buckingham: Open University Press

Bryman, A., 2007, ‘Barriers to integrating quantitative and qualitative research’, in Journal of Mixed Methods Research, vol. I, no. 1, pp. 8-22.

Cohen, L. and Manion, L., 1997, Research Methods in Education, 4th ed., London: Routledge.

Council of Higher Education, 2004, ‘South African higher education in the first decade of democracy’, Concept Document, CHE, Pretoria.

David, M. and Sutton, C.D., 2004, Social Research: The Basics, London: SAGE Publications.

Davis, A., Rensburg, M.J. and Venter, P., 2016, ‘The impact of managerialism on the strategy work of university middle managers’, Studies in Higher Education, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 1480-1494.

De Boer, H., Geodegebuure, L. and Meek, V.L., 2009, ‘The challenging nature of academic middle management: a framework for analysis’, in Meek, V.L., Geodegebuure, L., Santiago, R. and Carvalho, T., eds., The Changing Dynamics of Higher Education Middle Management, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 225-237.

Department of Education, 1997, Education White Paper 3: A Programmeme for Higher Education Transformation, Pretoria: Government Printers.

Duara, P., 2004, Decolonisation: Perspectives from Now and Then, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge.

Essack S. and Hindle, D.B., 2019, ‘Republic of South Africa: an enduring tale of two unequal systems’, in Stevens P., and Dworkin, A., eds., The Palgrave Handbook of Race and Ethnic Inequalities in Education, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 931-998.

Federal Ministry of Education, 14, Visitation panel reports to all federal universities, Abuja: Federal Ministry of Education.

Fiske, E.B, and Ladd, H.F., 2004, Elusive Equity: Education Reform in Post-apartheid South Africa, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

Heleta, S., 2016, ‘Decolonisation of higher education: dismantling epistemic violence and eurocentrism in South Africa’, Transformation in Higher Education, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-8.

Lloyd, P.C., 1966, The New Elites of Tropical Africa, London: Oxford University Press.

Lulat, Y. G-M., 2005, A History of African Higher Education from Antiquity to the Present: A Critical Synthesis, Connecticut: Praeger.

Mamdani, M., 2007, Scholars in the Market Place: The Dilemmas of Neo-liberal Reforms at Makerere University, 1989-2005, Kampala: Fountain Publishers.

Materu, P., 2007, ‘Higher education quality assurance in sub-saharan Africa: status, challenges, opportunities, and promising practices’, World Bank Working Paper No. 124, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Merrianm, S.B., 1998, Qualitative and Case Study Applications in Education, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

McKeever, M., 2017, ‘Educational inequality in apartheid South Africa’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 114-131.

Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M., 1994, Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Mushemeza, E.D., 2016, ‘Opportunities and challenges of academic staff in higher education in Africa’, International Journal of Higher Education, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 236-246.

National Universities Commission, 2019, Nigerian Universities. Available at https://nuc.edu.ng/nigerian-univerisities/state-univerisity/, accessed 20 January 2020

National Universities Commission, 2016a, 2016 Annual Report, Abuja: NUC.

National Universities Commission, 2016b, ‘NUC Takes Far-reaching Decisions with Vice Chancellors’, NUC Bulletin no ISSN 0795-3089, vol. 11, no. 42.

National Universities Commission-World Bank Report, 2012, Labour Market Observatory Report, Abuja: NUC.

Okebukola, P.A.O., 2018, Exemplary Attributes of University Councils, National Universities Commission Monograph Series, vol. 2, no. 2., Abuja: NUC.

Okebukola, P.A.O., 2016, Attributes of Successful Vice-chancellors, Lagos: OSF.

Okurame, D.E., 2008, ‘Mentoring in the Nigerian academia: experiences and challenges’, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 45-56.

Olayinka, A., 2017, Nigerian universities lack manpower, tools to compete globally, The Guardian Newspapers, April 6, 2017. Available at https://guardian.ng/interview/nigerian-universities-lack-manpower-tools-to-compete-globally-says-

uis-vc-abel-olayinka/, accessed on May 30, 2019.

O’Leary, Z., 2005, Researching Real-world Problems: A Guide to Methods of Inquiry, London: Sage.

Onukwugha, A., 2018, ‘How proliferation of state universities has impacted negatively on education sector in Nigeria’, Leadership Newspapers, January 12 2018. Available at https://leadership.ng/2018/01/12/proliferation-state-universities-impacted-negatively- education-sector-nigeria/, accessed on March 30, 2019

Sawyer, A., 2004, ‘Challenges facing African universities: Selected Issues’, African Studies Review, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 1-59.

Sony, M., Karingada, K. T. and Baporikar, N., 2020, Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies, Hershey, PA: IGI Global University.

Smith, J.A., and Dunworth, F., 2003, ‘Qualitative methodology’, in Valsiner, J., ed., Handbook of Development Psychology, Sage, London, pp. 603-621.

Tarusikirwa, M.C. and Mafa, O., 2017, ‘Internationalisation in higher education: challenges for research collaboration for academics in developing countries (Zimbabwe)’, International Journal of Asian Social Science, vol. 7 no. 2,

pp. 140-149.

Teferra, D. and Altbach, P.G., 2004, ‘African higher education: challenges for the 21st century’, Higher Education, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 21-50.

World News, 2013, Lessons and challenges for higher education in Africa, 31 August, Issue No. 285.

Woldegiorgis, E.T. and Doevenspeck, M., 2013. ‘The changing role of higher education in Africa: a historical reflection’, Higher Education Studies, no. 3, pp. 6. Zeleza, P.T. and Olukoshi, A., eds., 2004, African Universities in the Twenty-first Century, South Africa: UNISA Press.

Author Biography

Olugbemiga Samuel Afolabi

Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. E-mail: afolabiolugbemiga@yahoo.ca; oafolabi@uj.ac.za

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