Statistical exploration of leadership quality in formal higher institution and its effectiveness in Nigerian system

Introduction Historical Background

The issues of leadership patterns in university teaching and learning have been raised in many instances, by trying to find out the causes of poor standard of education in tertiary formal education in Nigerian university (Adewuyi & Ogunwuyi, 2002; Ajayi, & Afolabi, 2012; Akinduyo, 2014) [1,2,3] . It seem to be out of the mind that leadership pattern in the classroom is an outstanding determinant of student academic performance in the university (Bassey, Bassey, Ojua., & Ottong, 2011) [8] . However, the improvement of student's interaction and social skills are seen as important aims of education in every part of the world (Hunzicker, 2011; Idajili, 2018) [52,53] . Leadership in formal institution setting is the ability of an individual or group of individuals to influence and guide followers or members of the organization to achieve a common goal. Lecturers and teachers as leader play key roles in the implementation of the curriculum of the educational system, and they are seen as key individuals in any national educational development (Hughes-Hassell, Brasfield, & Dupree, 2012) [51] . To affirm this fact more, the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013) states expressly in the National Policy on Education that no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers (Chen, Lee, Lin, & Zhang, 2016; Chua, Thien, Lim, Tan & Guan, 2020) [19,20] . It also states that all teachers in educational institutions shall be professional trained (FRN, 2013, p. 29). Additionally, FRN (2013) prescribes the Nigerian Certificate on Education (NCE) shall be the minimum qualification for teaching in the Nigerian educational system (Hord, Roussin & Sommers, 2009; Hord & Sommers, 2008; Hudson, 2015) [48][49]50] . It is therefore important to state that the emphases placed on education' professional development is not only peculiar to Nigeria alone, but also it is key in the advanced nations of the world. So, lecturers/teachers' professional development involves the pre-service training, which is the training obtained from formal educational institutions to qualify as a teacher and teacher certification, and the training obtained out of the teacher training programme to become professional qualified. This is where the teacher registration council comes into play (TRCN, 2010) but majority of the university lecturers don't like registering and this may probably be part of the reason for poor leardership. Leadership in formal universities is one aspect that is yet to be fully professionalised in Nigeria, and this is affecting public perception of school leaders (Graham, 2005; Hairon & Tan, 2017; Hannaford, 2010) [43,45,46] . This perception makes many individuals who were good school leaders to exit the profession, and this is worsen by the fact that there are no ready structures aimed at promoting teachers' professional development (Junaid, 2023) [54] . The main issue is not about quantity but quality of teachers, as there are many teachers, but majority of them still needs knowledge and skill development before they can be relevant or competent to direct teaching and learning in the classroom. [12,13,14,15,16] . [39,40,41,42] . The vision will never be complete until there are many individuals with the ability to lead at every level of a project. Encourage disagreement: The leader must keep people focused on the overall goal when the debate becomes unproductive. Take responsibility for the final decision: To be open to other's ideas, to be open and encourage discussion and debate are critical elements of leadership (Enenche, 2016; Ezeani, & Oladele, 2013; Fakoya, 2023) [34,35,55] .

Another critical element is the ability to make the final decision an assume final responsibility for the decision. Stays away from personal disputes among colleagues: A leader who has all parties focused on the vision can allow room for people within the organization to disagree and to simply not like one another (Caskey & Carpenter, 2012; Chauraya, & Brodie, 2017) [17,18] . But leadership that has the character and integrity to provide respect to all members of the organization, creates the vision for all to see and agree to, and maintains an environment where principle, not personalities are the issues of debate, need not participate or become involved in personal arguments or problems (East, 2015; Edo, & Nwosu, 2018) [32,33] . Have a plan -but be flexible and adapt to change: A leader creates a plan that states the objectives as well as the details so the plan can remain flexible when circumstances change. A leader permits personal flexibility to change based on circumstances (DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, Rebecca, 2005; Dulue, & Tope, 2016) [30,31] . In some circumstances, a good leader must be prepared to step back and let others lead, other times a good leader has to be part of the "work crew" to motivate people forward (Dove & Freeley, 2011; DuFour & Fullan, 2013) [26,27] . The ability to communicate clearly, succinctly and articulately e.g. Instructions to participants or subordinates and reports to superiors should be as clear, direct, and concise as possible (Bausmith, & Barry, 2011; Benbow, 2007; Vipinosa, 2015) [9,10,11] . Use all available tools and technology e.g. Make tools and technology available to those you ask to complete the task (DuFour & Marzano, 2011; DuFour, DuFour, Rebecca, & Eaker, 2008) [28,29] . Literature, analysis and methods Survey Research Study using questionnaires as the instrument of drawing information from the respondents. The population of this study 400. The sample size was 200, this was taken from the 400 population. The sample size was designed using 50% confidence interval (C I), this followed Bouley's formula 1976 (Anderson & Herr, 2011; Ann-Christine, & Ulf, 2017; Asiyai, 2011; Barton & Stepanek, 2012) [4,5,6,7] . Data was collected. Survey Research Study using questionnaires as the instrument of drawing information from the respondents. The population of this study 400, comprised the some selected department of federal university Lokoja and University of Abuja.The sample size (200) was taken from the 400 population. The sample size was calculated using 50% confidence interval, this is According to Bouley's formula. The methodology to be used also depends averagely on documentaries on leadership, items sourced from newspapers, journal papers, internet sources and correspondence.

Test of Hypothesis

Hypothesis 3

 Ho: There are no leadership challenges Head of Department (HOD) face in the discharge of their leadership roles in effective lecturing management in formal effective management in formal university teaching.  The chi-square is 41.36, which shows that the chi square calculated is larger than the chi-square table 3.84.  Decision: since the designed value of chi -square 41.36 is bigger than the table value 3.84, therefore the Alternative hypothesis (Hi) There are leadership challenges Head of Department (HOD) face in the discharge of their leadership roles effective management in formal university teaching" Alternative hypothesis (Hi), Ho is rejected but Hi is accepted.

Based on the above analysis, leadership is often a transformational process. The transformational leader increases group members' motivation, confidence and satisfaction by uniting members and changing their beliefs, values and needs. Hypothesis conducted according to some articles guidelines (Crossman; c2020; Cuddapah & Clayton, 2011; David, 2010; Coleman, 2012; Creswell, 2012) [23,24,25,21,22] .

Findings

From the Analysis, 46 percent of the respondents said they strongly agreed that Leadership contributes to effective university teaching in formal tertiary institution teaching in University of Abuja and Federal university Lokoja., 35 percent of the respondent said they agreed that Leadership contributes to effective University Management in formal, while 10 percent of the respondent said they disagreed that Leadership contributes to effective university teaching Management in formal and only 5 percent of the respondent said they strongly disagreed that Leadership contributes to effective university teaching Management in formal tertiary institution. Also, 42 percent of the respondent said they strongly agreed that Head of Department (HOD) leadership pattern affects staff job performance in in formal university teaching, 48 percent of the respondent said they agreed that Head of Department (HOD) pattern affects staff job performance in formal university teaching, 5 percent of the respondent said they disagreed that Head of Department (HOD) leadership pattern affects staff job performance in in formal university teaching while 2 percent of the respondent said they strongly disagreed that Head of Department (HOD) leadership pattern affects staff job performance in formal university teaching.

Discussion

From the Analysis: Leadership contributes to effective management, teaching and service delivery in formal university teaching in both university of Abuja and federal university Lokoja. Head of department (HOD) leadership pattern affect staff job performance in effective teaching, management in formal university teaching in both university of Abuja and federal university Lokoja.

There are leadership challenges Head of Department (HOD) face in the discharge of their leadership roles effective management in formal teaching in both university of Abuja and federal university Lokoja. formal Head of Department should lead by good example and practice styles such as participative style of leadership that creates conducive environment,  Need for university managers to share their vision with other stakeholders in the school as this improves teachers in formal and non-formal universities.

Conclusion

Weakness

This study was conducted as the statistical exploration research on leadership in formal and non-formal education setting and its effectiveness in management. The study area was university of Abuja and federal university Lokoja. This study setting did not involve other universities in local government area in FCT and it did no capture the entire Nigeria. Only a case study is selected and narrowed the findings of this study can be used to generalized and represent the entire Nigeria to some extent but only provide more details on university of Abuja and federal university Lokoja

Future research

This research is the statistical exploration research on leadership in formal education setting and its effectiveness in management. The study area was university of Abuja and federal university Lokoja.This study in the future can be extended to capture the entire FCT and later the entire Nigeria. d , d ,

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