EMPLOYEE WORKING CONDITIONS FOR ACHIEVEMENT OF OBJECTIVES OF COLLAGES OF AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The working conditions and environment determines the employee’s performance in order to achieve an organization’s set objectives. Working condition according to Akinyele (2010) refer to an employee’s welfare terms and condition of service which may include; the organization of work and activities, training skill and employability, health, safety and well-being, work time and work life balance. Osinem and Nwoji (2010) defined working condition as the physical, social environment and circumstances under which an activity is performed, such  as outdoor or indoor jobs, working on Sundays or public holidays, working shifts, working long hours or long sitting sessions, extensive travelling, night duty, overtime absence from home for several days. Brenner (2004) said that working condition refer to all that is put in place of work to bring about optimal productivity. In the content of the study, working condition can be defined as all that is put in place to motivate workers or employees for optimal productivity.

Employee as defined by Balogun (2010) is a person hired by an organization to provide services on regular basis in an exchange for compensation in monetary terms. Rahaum (2011) defined an employee as one hired by another for wages and salary. Jean (2003) defined an employee as one who is in the service of another person under an express or implied contract or hire, under which the employer has the right to control the details of work performance. Employee therefore, means an individual hired by college of agriculture to perform a given task in exchange for wages, salary or fee. Also, employee performance towards achievement of an organizational objective is dependent on working condition.

Employee working condition according to Cherniss and Kane (2004) is a necessary structure in place for workers for effective and efficient productivity in an organization. According to Osinem (2009) defined employee working condition as the physical and social environment and circumstances under which a worker operates to bring about optimal productivity. The author further explained that worker’s productivity cannot be optimal, if the conditions of workers are not favourable. Aina and Beercraft (2000) opined that improved working conditions increases employee’s productivity for the achievement of the set objectives.

Objective according to Ughamadu (2000 the intended learning outcomes. Olaitan, Ali, Eyoh and Sowe (2000) defined objectives as set out-comes to be achieved. In the content of the study, objective refers to what is expected to be achieved at the end of a course of study. The National Council for Agriculture (1984) stated the general aims and objectives for establishing colleges of agriculture to include: developing and running training programmes that can produce self-reliant, agricultural technologist and technicians for the agricultural industry; providing facilities to meet practical training needs; rendering extension services to the surrounding communities; mounting short/refresher certificate courses in various areas of agricultural enterprises to meet the needs of farmers, trainees and employees of public and private agencies; and encouraging staff and students in research project related investigations to improve their competence and assisting in promoting self-centered learning which lead to the development of new agricultural findings and techniques for the interest of the country.

College of Agriculture is an institution of higher learning that grant certificates in agriculture and its related courses. Akinyele (2010) explained that College of Agriculture is a tertiary institution established to train middle-level-man power to make them competent in agricultural occupations. Usman (2010) defined College of Agriculture as a mono-technic which offers special courses in Agriculture for effective production of graduates. Levy and Hall (2006) opined that employee/workers in institutions like colleges of agriculture is made up of academic and non-academic staff. The authors further stated that non-academic staff are those support staff in various disciplines who provide support in the training of the learners, while the academic staff perform various functions like evaluation of students and preparation of results, supervision of projects and carrying out research among others.

The qualification of academic staff could be Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Higher National Diploma (HND), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc), Master Degree (M.Sc) or Doctorate Degree (Ph.D). Apart from Academic staff, the non-academic are those who are either certificated, skilled or unskilled that work in various offices to bring about smooth running of the institution for the achievement of the set objectives. Non-academic staff work as personal officers, typists, clerical officers, cleaners, security guards, registrar, librarians, bursar, store keepers, file recorders, farm assistants, farm technicians, farm technologists among others. For these academic and non-academic staff to work effectively, there is need for good working conditions in order to achieve the set objectives of the institution.

In South East Nigeria, it seems that the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture are hardly achieved. The problem could be link to the working conditions provided for the workers among other valuables. According to Mattern (2005), the objectives of the colleges of agriculture seems to be currently unachievable because the beneficiaries have not been able to maximize the gains of colleges of agriculture, due to the providing employee working conditions which has been in contention in terms of sufficiency in staff development as is currently being observed in some quarters. The conflicting view of people on the state of employee working condition in the colleges of agriculture requires an empirical evidence to situate the problem.

According to Yemisi (2006), materials and equipment for instruction, grossly remained inadequate in most colleges of agriculture. This has not helped issues, since the emphasis is on skill training and acquisition for self-sufficiency in food production. Yusufu and Metibola (2012) in the areas of staff development stated that there seems to be less attention paid to it, partly due to insufficient funds (money). The authors advised that Staff development issue, should be properly addressed to make them abreast with international best practices in agricultural development but it seems that no information is available on the state of the working conditions of both academic and non-academic staff in south-eastern Nigerian. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the employees working conditions in colleges of agriculture in south eastern Nigeria for better achievements of the objective of the colleges.

Statement of the Problem

Workers in many institutions of higher learning especially those in colleges of agriculture in Nigeria have decried the poor state of their working conditions especially in the provision of infrastructure such as classrooms, offices, laboratories, theatre and recreational centres among others. Moreso, there are poor fringe benefits to the workers which include workshops, seminars, in-service trainings and re-training programme, annual-leave bonus, conference sponsorship among others for workers to up-date their knowledge, implicated in the no definite plan and poor conditions of the workers, which is quite dismal and of course has killed the interest of the workers. Could the interest of the workers in the job be raised again and sustained if there has not been, Could the performance of the workers be improved one more if the reverse is the case, What alternative measures/strategies could the government adopt in order to improve the working conditions of the workers so that the objectives of colleges of agriculture will be achieved if the reverse is the case? Could the use of salary increase/promotion and other overtime allowances raise the interest of workers in their job places and sustain the same for the realization of set objectives of colleges of agriculture in Nigeria.

Answers to the above questions will address the issue of working conditions of workers in the colleges of agriculture hence the study. That is, it is on this premise of providing answers to the questions raised that the researcher embarked on investigating the employee working conditions necessary for achievement of objectives of colleges of agriculture.

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of the study is to investigate employee working conditions for achievements of objectives of colleges of agriculture in south-east, Nigeria. Specifically, the study intends to:

1. Determine the financial working conditions for achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.
2. Ascertain the environmental working conditions for achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.
3. Find out health working conditions for achievements of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.
4. Find out the capacity building opportunities for the achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.
5. Find ways of improving the working conditions of employees in colleges of Agriculture for the achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be of benefit to government (employers), employees in colleges of agriculture and researchers.

This study will provide the information that will enlighten the government to be acquainted with the necessary benefits accruable to their employees and this will help them to implement the fringe benefits to their employees in order to bring about conducive working environment.

It is anticipated that the findings from the study will assist the employees to be acquainted with the necessary fringe benefits, which will make the workers to put in their best in order to achieve the set objective of the establishment and work towards realizing them legitimately.

From the study, further researchers will find out the necessary benefits that will motivate employees (workers) into achieving the set objectives of the establishment, therefore, the findings of the study would serve as reference materials to be consulted by other researchers.

 Research Questions

Five research questions were formulated in line with the specific purposes of the study to guide the study.

1. What are the financial working conditions for achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture?
2. What are the environmental working conditions for achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture?
3. What are the health working conditions for achievements of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture?
4. What are the capacity building opportunities for the achievement for the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture?
5. What are the ways of improving the working conditions of the employees in colleges of agriculture for the achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture?

Research Hypotheses            

Five null hypotheses were formulated for this study and will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho₁: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of Academic and Non-Academic staff on the financial working conditions for achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.

Ho₂: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of Academic and Non-Academic staff on the environmental working conditions for achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.

Ho₃: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of Academic and Non-Academic staff on the health working conditions for achievements of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.

Ho₄: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of Academic and Non-Academic staff on the capacity building opportunities for the achievement for the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.

Ho₅: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of Academic and Non-Academic staff on the ways of improving the working conditions of employees in colleges of Agriculture for the achievement of the objectives of Colleges of Agriculture.

Scope of the Study

This study will cover the employee working conditions for achievement of objectives of colleges of Agriculture in South-East, Nigeria. The study was restricted to Enugu, Anambra, Imo, and Ebonyi States. Specifically, the study  focused on the financial working conditions, environmental working conditions, health working conditions, capacity building opportunities, and ways of improving the employee working conditions for Achievement of objectives of Colleges of Agriculture in South-East, Nigeria.

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