Effective University Leadership as Predictor of Academic Excellence in Southern Nigerian Universities

Abstract

The University is an educational system where high level manpower is trained for socio-economic and political growth of any nation. The leadership of a University plays invaluable roles in achieving academic excellence in dissemination and acquisition of universal knowledge, values; functional, technical and scientific skills and competencies critical to global growth and development. The study therefore investigated the relationship between effective University leadership and academic excellence in Southern Nigerian Universities. The population of the study was made up of all the Vice chancellors from the seventeen federal Universities in Southern Nigeria. A random sampling technique was used to select nine (09) Universities and their Vice chancellors representing 52% of the studied population. 135 academic staff were also randomly selected from the sampled Universities as respondents. Questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data collected for the study. The analysis revealed that Vice chancellors from Southern Nigerian Universities were moderately effective in their leadership roles but the level of academic excellence in Southern Nigerian Universities was generally low. A further analysis revealed that there was a significant relationship between leadership effectiveness and academic excellence in Southern Nigerian Universities. It was therefore recommended among others that highly competent, effective and transformative University administrators should be selected for Vice chancellorship position in Southern Nigerian Universities. Federal Universities in Southern Nigeria should be resourceful in generating revenue to end the seemingly unending lamentation of poor funding.