Good work ethics and service delivery in public universities in the south-south region of Nigeria

Abstract

The Nigerian University administration is a collection of specialized academic faculties established by law, financed by private and public funds, and staffed by professionals in various disciplines for the purpose of achieving their overall goal (teaching, research, and community service) of service delivery. Since good work ethics represents a critical determinant of effectiveness and productivity vis-à-vis service delivery in all formal organizations, this paper utilizes the “person-situation” theoretical model to assess the level of service delivery in selected public universities in the South-south geo-political region of Nigeria. The present investigation adopted the survey research design. Six hundred and sixty (660) academic and non-academic staff and three hundred (300) students were purposively and randomly sampled respectively. The instrument used for data collection was titled: “good work ethics and service delivery questionnaire”. Data was analyzed using population t-test, multiple regression and Pearson product moment correlation. The study revealed that almost all the public universities under consideration have witnessed poor service delivery in terms of delay in the release of students’ results, delay in the preparation of transcript, failure to adhere to time-tables (crash programme) – leading to frustration by students. The overall consequences of this have been the poor rating of these universities. It was recommended among other things that effort should be made to address the poor work ethics (in terms of initiative, dedication, high standard of responsibility, loyalty, accountability, and self-discipline) among staff and students in the selected universities with a view to strengthening its performance index and therefore service delivery.