THE ROLE OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS IN EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY: A CASE STUDY OF UYO CITY POLYTECHNIC, UYO)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The word administration is derived from the latin word ‘ad’ and ‘ministiare’ which means to serve. Administration may be defined as “group activities which involve cooperation and coordination for the purpose of achieving desired goals or objectives”.
Administration according to Sharma and Sadana (2009) generally involves cooperative efforts by a number of people to achieve some purpose. Bhagwan and Bhushan (2010) conceive administration as along and slightly pompous work, but it has a humble meaning, for it means to care for or to look after people, to manage affairs.
Public on the other hand is something which belongs to the whole community; it belong to the generality of people; it belongs to everybody. Public administration therefore refers to the organization and management of materials to achieve the purpose of government. Having said that, an administrative officer therefore, may be described as trained personnel who use his administrative know-how to coordinate efforts to carry out public policies in order to achieve organizational goals. In the final analysis, the writer wishes to point out aptly that an administrative officer has a vital role to play in effective service delivery in Academic organizations.
- STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Despite the good intentions of administrative officers in effective service delivery, yet, there are some problems militating against the smooth attainment of its goals which include:
The influence of a political class has gone a long way to slow down the work of administrative officer. Ecological factor (Environment) has also influence the work of the administrative officer. For instance, if the work environment is not peaceful, but full of rancor, the administrative officer might find it difficult to do his work effectively.
Inadequate finance can also go a long way in slowing down the effective service delivery of administrative officer. As it is known, money is bedrock of any administration, and inadequate managerial skills, all of these rendered the quality and quantity of services provided by the administrative officers inefficient and ineffective.
This study sought to examine the contributions of different administrative officers in the efficiency of public services in Nigeria, and the different ways administrative officers can help public service in Nigeria to achieve their organizational goals effectively and efficiently.
1.2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study embrace the following:
- To erase the mis-conception that any person of intelligence could do administrative work without preparation and adequate training.
- To erase the mis-conception that an administrative officer has little or no role to play in actualizing organizational goals.
- To find out how administrative officer can contribute to the effective service delivery of Academic organization in Nigeria effectively.
- To correct the mis-conception that administration is not a serious profession.
- To make recommendations that will enhance effective service delivery of Administrative Officers in Uyo City polytechnic based on the findings.
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following questions have been formulated to act as a guide so as to achieve the objectives of this study.
- Is there any significant relationship between administrative officers and effective attainment of organizational goals?
- How does the administrative officer contribute to the effective service delivery in the public service of Nigeria?
- Does ecological factor (environment) have any adverse effect on the work of administrative officers?
- Why is an administrative officer important in an organization?
- What are the roles of the administrative officers in public organization?
- RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
For the purpose of this study, three hypotheses have been formulated as follows:
- H0 : There is no significant relationship between the administrative officer and attainment of organizational goals.
H1 : There is significant relationship between the administrative officer and attainment of organizational goals.
- H0 : Administrative officer does not contribute to the effective service delivery in public service of Nigeria.
H1 : : Administrative officer contribute to the effective service delivery in public service of Nigeria.
- H0 : The role of administrative officer are not a pre-requisite to the achievement of public organizational goals.
- H1 : The role of administrative officer are a pre-requisite to the achievement of public organizational goals.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The researcher hopes that this research will be very useful to both public and private organizations in Nigeria.
It is also meant to fulfill the academic requirement for the award of higher National Diploma.
To remind management that administrative officer plays a vital role in effective service delivery of public service in Nigeria.
To establish in the mind of the readers that an efficient administration is achieved through preparation or adequate training of the vastness of this field.
To encourage administrative officers to use their administrative skills to actualize organizational goals.
To remind the management of Akwa Ibom State civil service commission that the place of administrative officers should not be undervalue, they should be given a high premium if effective service delivery is to be achieved in public service of Nigeria.
Finally, the study will be helpful in solving some of the administrative problems.