Leadership in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: A Study of the Perceptions of its Impact on the Acquired Leadership Skills of Expatriate Nigerian Postgraduates.

<p>The primary trouble befalling Nigeria and its Niger Delta has been described as a failure of leadership. At various periods during the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries, Nigeria endured a bloody civil war and years of repressive military rule. Violence in the Niger Delta region, widespread brain drain, and frequent strikes that disrupted academic calendars at universities had serious ramifications for the region's educational system.</p><p>This study explores former students' perceptions of perceived leadership qualities seen in educational leaders at universities in the Niger Delta and how those qualities impact the acquired leadership skills of expatriate Nigerian postgraduates. Participants were Nigerian postgraduates living in Africa, Europe, and North America. Twenty-three men and 4 women took part in the study. Purposeful snowballing sampling procedures was used to select the sample. A mixed method design was used to collect data through structured electronic-mail surveys, and data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis procedures.</p><p>Fifteen areas of influence emerged from expatriates' perceptions of these educational leaders. Areas of influence were categorized into 4 major constructs: Leading qualities, Perceived produced impacts, Perceived barriers, and Responses. Expatriates perceived few negative leading qualities but perceived too many real negative impacts that posed barriers to their acquired leadership skills. They are aware that these perceived barriers could be social, economic, environmental, and ethnic. These perceived impacts and barriers have generated fear in respondents. Anger appeared to be postgraduates' most common response to negative leadership qualities of educational leaders, while restlessness, associated with desire for effective leadership in the region appeared to be a common attitude among respondents.</p><p>Because educational leadership has tremendous impact on the lives of the country's postgraduates, and in light of increasing reports of "brain drain" from the region, Nigeria's educational leadership should be researched from every possible angle. A new theoretical model of perceptions of leadership qualities should be the focus of future research as Nigerian expatriates examine their own leadership qualities and, eventually, put them to use.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Akata, Gerald Anietie Ignatius

• Leadership
• Educational
• Educational Leadership Theories
• Contingency and Situational Leadership Theories
• Transformational and Transactional Leadership Theo
• Education
• Educational Administration and Supervision
• Educational Sociology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Sociology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1898

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3250