Situational Analysis of Conflict in Universities in the South West Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria
KOLAWOLE, Bolanle Oluwatoyin Ph.D
Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Education, Atiba University, Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The study investigated situational analysis of conflict emergence in universities in the South West Geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the areas of conflict, the frequency of occurrence and the sources of the conflict in the universities in the South West, Nigeria. Descriptive study based on survey research design was employed. The population for this study consisted of 3,211 administrators of the universities in the South West Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The sample comprised 900 university administrators representing 28% from the universities (federal, state and private) in the six (6) states (Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti and Ondo) in the South West Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The researcher developed an instrument titled: Conflict Survey Questionnaire (COSUQ) to collect data. The overall Split-Half alpha (α) for the scales are: 0.78 for areas of conflict, 0.82 for frequency of occurrence and 0.77 for sources of conflict. The data collected after administration were analysed using frequency count, percentages (%), Means (X ̅), Standard Deviation (S.D) and rank-ordering. The results showed that inter-personal conflicts were the major areas of conflict while conflicts among the students were the most frequent. It was recommended that effective interpersonal relationships between student and students, lecturers and lecturers, non-academic and non-academic staff, student and lecturer and students’ and non-academic staff should be encouraged through the use of the democratic management style and participative decision making among the aforementioned groups by the university management.
Keywords: Conflict, Universities, Management, Situational Conflict