Improving the management of assets in the Nigerian federal colleges of education

• Main Author: Hamma, Halilu
• Other Authors: Male, S. ; Moodley, K.
• Published: University of Leeds 2008
• Subjects: 370.15
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.485743

The economic imperatives imposed by global competition and the continuous drive for improved performance has promoted a need to consider the implications of strategic decisions on physical asset base in the public sector. The public services are evolving in a new context of rising public expectation, increasing focus on improving efficiency and value for money, and the continuous emergence of new technologies. Given the rapid changes in the education sector, the future presents ever-increasing challenges for educational institutions to improve the management of their support services. These services are vital for them in providing better quality outputs to meet the needs of their students, academic staff, customers and visitors. The Nigerian Federal Colleges of Education are therefore under direct pressure to find new and better ways to effectively and efficiently manage their physical asset base to meet service delivery needs, especially given that their budgets are coming under increasing constraint and pressure, and demands from service users not just very high but also increasing. These provided the impetus for this study. The study is therefore concerned with examining the state of physical asset base in these Colleges and how the institutions understand and manage them, and then developing a strategic framework that will ensure optimum use of these resources for more effective and efficient service delivery. The study developed an Asset Strategy Model which will guide the Colleges to develop their individual asset strategies that will align their asset planning and management practices with their service delivery priorities and strategies, within the limits of resources available. This has been achieved by review of relevant literature and conduct of field studies in some of the Colleges.