Management Practices Influence On The Existence of Adult Education

BELLO Lapai International Journal of Administration LIJAD ISSN: 2616-1346 (Print)
Etsu Abubakar ISSN: 2756-5246 (Online)

Volume 4 Number 1 December, 2021
STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF

ADULT EDUCATION AGENCY IN NIGER STATE
BELLO ETSU ABUBAKAR

07063605526, 07080040439
belloetsuabubakar333@gmail.com
Department of Continuing Education and Community Development
Ibrahim BadamasiBabangida University, Lapai, Niger State
ABSTRACT
Adult education changes the social and psychological minds of adults more than any
other profession. Adult education instills hope in adults and liberates them from their
prejudice of seeing themselves as not being capable to learn.The main purpose of this
paper was to investigate the strategies for effective management and Administration of
Adult Education Agency in Niger-State. The paper revealed that forManagement and
Administration in adult education agency in Niger State are those management
practices that are already in existence and the way they are applicable in the
agency.These include: planning, implementation, organizing, directing, staffing,
supervising and budgeting. The findings further revealed among others that experts in
adult education should be involved in planning the programmes.The findings also
revealed that management function in adult education agency should include: planning,
organizing, directing, and controlling; The state agency should provide adequate
infrastructural facilities in adult education centres. The paper revealed that in staff
retention strategies, the state agency should organize workshops seminars and
conference regularly for coordinators, facilitators and other staff members.The paper
therefor recommended that government should provide allowances for the supervisors,
the state agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education, Niger should adopt the
strategies for effective management of adult education within the state. Moreover, the
evaluation strategies for management of adult education agency, the programme
monitoring teams should usually visit adult education personnel regularly to evaluate
their performances.
Keywords :Adult education, Management, Administration, Strategies, Niger State.
Introduction
All agencies, institutions, families and business firms among others need proper
management strategies to ensure that the organizational goals are achieved. An
agency such as adult education in Niger State, if not properly managed, planned and
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controlled, cannot achieve success. The success of any organization or institution

depends, to a great extent, on its management strategies. This is based on
management philosophy and a strong unwavering confidence in the abilities of those
who manage the organization (Onuchukwu, 1993). Jones and Potrac (1996) have
stressed that many organizations have failed due to lack of proper management
strategies. It is interesting to stress the predominant roles management plays in our
everyday life, not minding the classification of our given institution. The possibility of
having functional institution is dependent on the function of management, even where
such terms are not captured or expressed literally. The connectivity with the cycle of
action and reactions within any system demands and requires the services of
management. The multiplier effect of the need of management practice is made
accessible in its sectionalization with each providing specific skill to furnish
practitioners with relevant information to make better decision that will be visible in
their everyday activities. These categories range from human resource management,
organizational behaviour and management, change management, marketing
management, management information system and production/operational
management, among others (Barinua, Nduka, Aseinimieyeofori and Chinwe, 2012).
Management deserves adequate attention in every organization that intends to
realize its objectives. Management is also seen as the process by which the elements
of a group are integrated, coordinated and /or utilized so as to effectively and
efficiently achieve organizational objectives. The integrative function of management
is coordination (Ouston, 1993). The purpose of this integrative function is to ensure
that the primary organs work together to implement the organisation's plan of action
(Enechukwu, 1997). A careful look at the above two definitions would reveal a
similarity in that they both perceived management as performing the function of
coordinating and integrating the activities and resources available to effectively
achieve organizational goals. In the present study, the organization is adult
education agency of Enugu State.
Adult education changes the social and psychological minds of adults more than any
other profession. Adult education instills hope in adults and liberates them from their
prejudice of seeing themselves as not being capable to learn. Fasokun in Onyenemezu
(2012) stated that adult education is concerned not with preparing people with life
but rather with assisting adults to live more successfully as useful and acceptable
members of their societies and contribute meaningfully to the development of those
societies. Consequently, adult education awakens adult learners to become aware of
their environmental (social, economic, cultural and political) and psychological
potentials and hidden abilities. It also exerts enormous influence on larger society in
terms of national development. Adult education continues from where the teachers in
the formal school system, who rigorously inculcate in the individuals the desire for
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knowledge, understanding and education, stop.

Adult education educates adult learners who are parents/guardians on the
better ways of managing the available resources to achieve socio-political and
economic success in their life endeavours. It also creates antecedents which assist other
individual personalities and institutions in dealing with human problems as well as the
society in which they found themselves. Adult education is the major profession that
assists adult learners effectively in their efforts to learn (Okafor, 1991).
The above assertion revealed that adult education is a unique profession that deals
with “human materials” and environmental problems which give the individual a
feeling of joy, fascination, pride and enthusiasm. These then calls for strategies for
effective management of adult education to enable the sector to realize its goals as
set up by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004).
The objectives of adult education as stated by FRN (2004) are as follows:
i. To provide functional literacy and continuing education for adults and formal
education or those that did not complete their primary education;
ii. To provide functional and remedial education for those young people who
did not complete their secondary education;
iii. To provide education for different categories of the formal education system
in order to improve their basic knowledge and skills;
iv. Tsoprovide in-service, on-the-job, vocational and professional training for
different categories of workers and professionals in order to improve their
skills; and
v. To give adult citizens of the country education aesthetic, cultural and civic
education for public enlightenment.
For the desired objectives to be achieved there is need to adopt strategies for
effective management of adult education in Niger State. In Nigeria, mass literacy,
adult and non-formal education encompasses all forms of functional education given
to youths and adults outside the formal school system such as functional literacy,
remedial education and vocational education (FRN 2004).
Proper management in adult education is important for meaningful development of
adult education programmes in Nigeria and particularly in Niger State. Management
processes could be regarded as an effective and systematic way of achieving
organizational goals through planning, organizing, coordinating, staffing, directing,
supervising, controlling, budgeting and evaluating human and material resources in
an organization. Therefore management processes of adult education agency in
Enugu State may include the following: Planning of the agency's programmes,
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organizing the programmes, controlling of human and material resources,

implementation of the programmes, evaluation of the programmes, staffing, financing
and supervision, among others. However, the management processes mentioned
above are ineffective in Enugu especially in the following areas: supervision, no
vehicles for the supervisors, poor environment for learning, lack of facilities for
learners, non-payment of facilitators by local government chairmen, poor funding,
lack of manpower training, lack of uniform curriculum, among others (State Agency for
Mass Literacy Adult and Non-formal Education Niger, 2014). Based on findings, there
is urgent need for effective management strategies of adult education.
In spite of the laudable efforts made by the United Nations Education Scientific and
Cultural Organization UNESCO (Nigeria) in literacy education, even a cursory look at
the International Benchmarks for Adult Literacy shows that Nigeria is not yet operating
within the recommended framework for adult literacy programmes. Among these are:
failure to sustain literacy rates due to poor resources, including equipment, material
and teachers, donor dependency and a negative perceived value of education; a
poor literate environment that means that literacy skills are not maintained in the long
term; literacy instructors not properly trained in facilitation skills and gender
awareness; inadequate facilities, poor teaching/learning materials, irrelevant
curriculum among others (Fasokun&Pwol, 2005).
Here in Nigeria, for adult education development generally, adequate and
sustainable management strategies must be devised (Oluborode, 2007). This,
according to her is to counter the numerous problems facing the development of adult
education within the states. Notably among the challenges, according to the author, is
the issue of funding. For efficient management and meaningful development in adult
education, adequate funding needs to be guaranteed through government
appropriations and donations from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) among
others.
More so, for effective strategies in adult education in Nigeria in general and Enugu
State specifically, the facilitators, staff, coordinators, learners among others need to
be adequately motivated for greater output. Authorities and managements use
welfare benefits to increase performance and productivity in an organization
(Oluborode, 2007). The importance of motivational strategies in adult education to
improve participation and performance cannot be over -stressed. Facilitators who
usually facilitate learning in adult education centres have significant roles to play in
the development of adult education. Sonmez (1996) observed that a teacher is the
firm foundation supporting the new generation in my country to keep with change in
the economic, political and socio-cultural life. Such socio-cultural life may include adult
education programmes. Adult educators and others involved in the programme
management activities work together to achieved a common goal. It has always been
advocated that adult education facilitators should handle the centres, programme,
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instruction, curriculum and other related issues, and assume other obligations to the
programme that fall to the lot of every facilitator (Oluborode, 2007). The few
educators who are adult education specialists were included in the present study.
Hence they have been part of and are still involved in adult education management.
Concept of Adult Education
Adult education is defined as any organized educational programme designed for
adults in order to acquire skills, upgrade their knowledge and enhance their standard
of living. Adult education was defined by Nzeneri (2010) from the position of United
Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), explaining adult
education as the entire body of organized educational process, whatever the
contents, level and methods, whether formal or otherwise, whether they prolong or
replace initial education in the schools, colleges or universities, as well as
apprenticeship whereby persons regarded as adults by society to which they belong,
develop their abilities, enrich their knowledge, improve their technical or professional
qualification and bring about changes in their attitude or behavior in two-fold
perspective or full personal development and participation in balance and
independent social, economic and cultural development.
Adult education was perceived by Onyenemezu (2012) as the education (formal,
informal and non-formal) given to any person regarded as an adult by society in
order to socially, economically and culturally improve and empower him or her so that
the person will be able to contribute meaningfully as a useful and acceptable member
of society. According to him, adult education is the education based on the needs of
adults. Ani (2003) defined adult education as any planned or unplanned learning
activities undertaken by those who are physiologically mature, socially and
economically responsible.
Adult education was viewed by Nzeneri (2008) as an indispensable tool for
adjustment, for individuals, groups, national and international bodies, for
development, for need identification, needs meeting and for problem solving. Thus,
adult education is development–oriented; a process that is geared towards making
an adult to be more useful to himself and his society.
Similarly, Yahaya (2010) perceived adult education and non-formal education as any
organized, systematic educational activities outside the established formal system of
education intended to serve identifiable learning clienteles and learning objectives
principally for out-of-school youths and adults for purpose of communicating ideas,
developing skills, changing attitudes or modifying behviour related to the
realization of goals and achievement of higher standard of living and better the lot
of the people.
Contributing further adult education, according to Seya (2005), is seen as a
transmission of process of general, technical or vocational knowledge as well as skills,
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values and attitudes, which take place out of the formal education system with a view
to remedying early education inadequacies of mature people or equipping them with
knowledge and cultural elements required for their self-fulfillment and active
participation in the social, economic and political life of their societies. Furthermore,
adult education has been regarded as all forms of functional education given to
youths and adults outside the formal school system, such as functional literacy,
remedial and vocational education involving the nomads, migrant families, the
disabled and other categories FRN, (2004)
However objectives of adult education as spelt out in the National Policy on
Education (NPE, 2004) are as follows:
1. To provide functional literacy and continuing education for adults and formal
education for those that did not complete their primary education.
2. To provide functional and remedial education for those young people who
did not complete their secondary education.
3. To provide education for different categories of the formal education system
in order to improve their basic knowledge and skills.
4. To provide in-service, on-the-job, vocational and professional training for
different categories of workers and professionals in order to improve their
skills.
5. To give adult citizens of the country education aesthetic, cultural and civic
education for public enlightenment.
This makes it imperative that adult education should effectively and efficiently be
managed for the beneficiaries to derive from its benefits.
Management
Management is a problem-solving process of efficiently and effectively determining
and achieving organizational goal(s) through the use of scarce human and non-human
resources (money, machines, materials and methods) in a dynamic setting. The process,
therefore, is not only goal-oriented but people-focused and exerts influence.
Management functions include planning, organizing, directing and controlling. These
functions are like a chain; it is a continuum, and one leads to the other (Agbaeze&Eyisi,
2010).
In conceptualizing management, Daft (2005) defined management as the attainment
of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning,
organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources. In their own
view, Bucher and Krotee (1998) noted that management is the coordinated and
integrated process of utilizing an organization's resources. These resources, according
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to them, include human and materials that are utilized to achieve specific objectives of
an organization. It should be noted that an organization needs to maximize the
advantages of the internal and external resources available in her immediate
community. Given the fact that adult education programmes of any institution or
agency have well defined specific objectives, such objectives can only be achieved
through effective management.
In their own view, James, Freeman &Dawel (2000) posit that management process is a
systematic way of handling activities within the organization. These include:
1. Planning: The process of establishing goals and a suitable course of action for
achieving those goals.
2. Leading: Process of directing and influencing the task-related activities of
group members on an entire organization; also motivating employees.
3. Organizing: Process of engaging two or more people in working together in a
structured way to achieve a specific goal or set of goals.
4. Controlling: A process of ensuring that actual activities conform to planned
activities. Furthermore, these authors submit that managers are to ensure
that decisions and actions taken by the employees/staff of the organization
must yield positive result. These decisions should be such that they tend
towards achieving the organizational objectives. However, such decisions
should have certain attributes and elements like:
I. Established standards;
II. Measuring current performance;
III. Comparing this performance to the established standards;
IV. Taking corrective action if deviations are detected.
Controlling, as a management function, assists the manager in tracking organizational
performance.
Similarly, Snyder (1993) conceptualized management as the art of coordinating the
factors of production towards the achievement of the purposes of an organization. He
stressed that it is the accomplishment of objectives through the use of human labour,
materials and machines. This could imply that management's broad function is to
coordinate all the available resources to achieve the objectives of the organization.
The importance of effective management in the achievement of set goals for both
profit and non-profit oriented organizations and institutions cannot be overN stressed.
This fact may have convinced Byrine (1992) to emphasize the importance of
management when he stated that people must find ways of convincing society as a
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whole, and those who train managers in particular to know that the real leadership
problems of institutions are getting things done. Others include the implementation of
the evolving of consensus and the making of the right decisions at the right time with
the right people – that is where the action is. According to him, although society has not
learned to give much credit to managers, it is hoped that society can move towards
recognizing that managerial and leadership jobs are among the most critical tasks of
society. He further pointed out that they deserve the professional status that is given to
non-professional fields of knowledge.
Management as conceptualized by McFarland (1994) above carries several key
implications. Firstly, it indicates the dynamic nature of management, implying that
management does not occur by rigid formula or fixed pattern. Secondly,
management as a process implies activity over varying spans of time. Thirdly, it
implies that change is an ever-present reality of organizational life; the process is on-
going and unceasing. Fourthly, it implies that management action can direct and
control, at least to some extent, the nature, degree, extent, and pace of change
occurring within the organization.
Management, according to Osuala (2000), is the process of achieving an
organization's goal through the coordinated performance of five specific functions,
namely: planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. Management is
viewed as the engine room that defines the flow of all economic and productive
activities (Nwachukwu, 1982).
Management is a collection of activities involving planning, organizing, motivating
and controlling. It involves designing and maintaining an environment in which
individuals working together in groups efficiently and effectively accomplish the
activities of an organization. A management strategy is a framework that
encompasses the knowledge and skills required to design and maintain an
environment in which the manager works together with staff, facilitators, practitioners
and learners, to attain the vision and mission of the organization (Nafukho, Ngwire&
Lam 2011).
Management as perceived by French and Seward (2003) is the process, activity or
study of carrying out the task of ensuring that a number of activities are performed in
such a way that a definite objective is achieved. According to them, it involves the task
of creating and maintaining conditions in which desired objectives are achieved by
the combined efforts of a group of people. This perception may imply that the task of
management is done through a combined effort of self and other people in the
organization.
Furthermore, Cook and Mendleson (2003) conceptualized management as a system
which encourages the managers to perceive the internal and external environmental
factors as an integrated whole of an organization. Consequently, the physical, human,
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environmental and psychological facets of the job are viewed as linking to form an
integrated whole. It therefore implies that all sub-systems of an organization have to
be well-managed to avoid creating a gap that will affect other sub-systems to
function effectively if the set objectives of the organization are to be economically
pursued and achieved.
The present study views management in one of the above two directions, which is as a
process for the achievement of set goals in Niger State Agency for Mass Literacy
Adult and non-formal Education.
Management of Adult Education
Management of adult education is a process of planning, organizing, directing,
controlling, coordinating and supervising all educational activities to develop the
learners' abilities, enrich their knowledge and improve their professional or technical
qualifications in order to bring about changes in skills acquisition and competence
(Oluborode, 2007).
The pursuit of educational excellence has been one of the major goals of most nations
of the world. This is so because adult education has been adjudged the key with which
any nation could permanently close the doors of poverty and ignorance (Oluborode,
2007). This author further stated that if adult education is accepted to be an
instrument of change, facilitators are the operators of the instrument while the adult
learner could be regarded as the raw materials on which the changes would be
manifested over a period of time.
In her conception of adult education management, Oluborode maintained that
management has been defined by many writers. Different meanings have been
attributed to the word 'management'. Some people see it as referring to a group of
people. They think of a management team or a group of individuals in an
organization. Management is also seen as a process demanding the performance of a
specific function. The essence of management is to make decision for the purpose of
achieving individual, group and organizational objectives.
The task of the adult education manager, regardless of his level in an enterprise or the
type of enterprise, is to establish a conducive environment for effective and efficient
operation of individuals working together in group. Such an environment is
characterized by a group of individuals with a common interest, an intentional
structure of roles, the removal of obstructions to performance and the motivation of
individuals for performance.
Management could be seen as a hierarchy of people and functions in an organization.
When management is seen from this perspective, it then becomes an actor in the adult
education endeavour. Management, seen from the latter perspective, may, therefore,
be defined as being concerned with seeing that the job is done efficiently with its task
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centring on decisions for planning and guiding the operations that are going on in the
adult education organization (Olurorode, 2007).
In supporting the above view, Obiozor&Obidiegwu ( 2013) perceived management
in adult education as a process of combination of human and material resources
efficiently and effectively in order to accomplish the goals of adult education
programmes in all facets of life and in all contexts (families, communities, religion,
politics, education, economics, etc. ).
Management which focuses on ensuring effectiveness in the utilization of humans,
materials, monies and machines so as to articulate adequately all management
functions with the set goal being to optimize output from input process
(Omiunu&Engenti, 2012). According to them, this brings about productive outcome
with guaranteed satisfaction from all managers and other staff in the management
process. The managers here, in the case of the present study, are the directors,
administrators, government, coordinators, and facilitators, among others. To them,
adult education management is a crucial and a central activity in any group, more so in
adult education programme. Management in relation to adult education involves a
variety of sequential and related activities designed and carried out so as to achieve
the goal of the programme. It will enable managers of the programme to allocate the
various input (human and material or economic resources) by adequately planning,
organizing, directing and controlling adult learning activities for the purpose of
effectively and efficiently producing the outputs (education or learning) desired by
the clientele or learners or the people in need of it.
The managerial function revolves around the acquisition of resources as well as the
effective and efficient utilization of human, material and financial functions. These
therefore, focus on the effective and efficient utilization of human, material, financial
and time resources to attain education objective (Ogonor, 2004). Thibault, Stack
&Hinings (1994) concluded that nothing is left to chance; everything is
systematically and scientifically performed with evaluation procedure applied at
every stage of a management process so as to adduce reason for performance
outcome.
Management Functions in Adult Education
One of the most useful methods of managerial functions and seeing the managerial
job as process, is to group managerial activities under the categories of planning,
organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. These functions can be said to be
effectively and efficiently performed when there is adequate training to update the
knowledge of the management staff with new ideas and innovations of how to
responsibly perform these functions (Oluborode, 2007).
Planning: Planning is the first and the most important function of management. The
essence of planning is to prepare for and predict future events. Planning goes beyond
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attempting to attain stated organizational objectives. It involves the development of

strategies and procedures required for effective realization of the entire plan. It
entails determination of control, direction and method of accomplishing the overall
organizational objectives. Good planning is a precondition for better result.
Supporting, the above view, James et al (2000) defines planning as “a particular kind
of decision making that addresses the specific future that managers desire for their
organization. Further, he posits that “Planning is not a single event, with a clear
beginning and end. It is an on-going process that reflects and adapts to changes in the
environment surrounding each or facing not only stiff competition and the rising
expectations of customers, but also evolving technology''.
Organising: involves a determination and enumeration of activities required to
achieve objectives, grouping of these activities, the assignment of such groups to a
department headed by a manager, the delegation of authority and exaction of
responsibility to carry them out, and the provision for the co-ordination of authority
and informal relationships horizontally and vertically in the organizational structure.
Organising, therefore, is the means by which an intentional structure of roles is
established so that individuals, acting within them, contribute to the accomplishment of
group objectives. Thus, organizational structure is not an end itself but a tool for
accomplishing objectives.
Directing: embraces guiding, supervising and teaching subordinates to ensure that
they understand the objectives they are to accomplish, the means by which they are to
accomplish them, and their individual roles in accomplishing these objectives. Directing
largely comprises interpersonal relationship and communication. It imposes a
continuous responsibility on the superior to make sure that subordinates understand
their tasks.
Controlling: is the measurement and correction of activities of those for whom a
manager is responsible to make sure that goals are accomplished of plans. The
management function of control involves “closing the loop” of managerial
functions.Controlling is monitoring and evaluating activities, and providing corrective
mechanisms (Cole 2003).
The other functions of the manager embedded in five main functions are coordinating,
motivating and integrating or communicating, despite the fact that the above
management functions are not effectively carried out by the adult education
managers (Oluborode, 2007).
Management in Niger State Agency for Mass Literacy Adult and Non formal
Education
Management in adult education agency in Niger State are those management
practices that are already in existence, and the way they are applicable in the
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agency. For the purpose of this study, the following management practices will be
discussed. These include: planning, implementation, organizing, directing, staffing,
supervising and budgeting.
Planning: This deals with policy making. This agency makes policy in respect to adult
education programmes, number of centres in each local government area,
instructional materials and structures.
Implementation: This is where the problem lies because it involves money and human
efforts. The state government, local government, study centres and skill centres are
involved in implementation of the programmes.
Implementation begins as the recommendations from the needs assessment results and
the emerging plan are actually carried out where the rubber meets the road! Getting
to the implementation phase does not imply that the planning stops; it means that
stakeholders start acting on some aspects of the plan (Nafukho et al, 2011). The
authors further maintained that implementation involves range of different activities,
including:
Obtaining the resources needed to run the programme (personnel, equipment,
materials, land/ building, utilities, and so on).
Organizing: It has correlation among these bodies: basic literacy programme, and
post-literacy programmes, continuing and vocational education. Organizing defines
the part which each member of the organization is expected to perform for the
organizational goals to be achieved.
Directing: The director of the agency gives order or instruction and it will be carried
out for the proper working of the programme. Directing can be done by
communicating with someone in writing form, verbally or by taking actions.
(Obiozor&Obidiegwu, 2013).
Staffing: The civil service commission recruits senior staff from level 7 to 16.While the
recruitment of junior staff from 1 to 6 is undertaken by the head of the respective
parastatals with approval of head of service and civil service commission, facilitators
are recruited by chairman of the local government area and interviewed by the
director of the State Agency for Adult and Non-formal Education with the
recommendation of the respective local government area where the person will work.
Facilitators / learner ratio is 1: 25 for a standard Adult Education class. Serving
teachers in formal schools and retired teachers with the minimum qualification of NCE
are preferred in terms of appointment as adult and non-formal education facilitators.
Coordinating: The coordinator of adult education zone, unit head of local
government and head instructors are working properly to ensure that all the centres in
the zone are functioning well.
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Reporting: The chief executive makes use of the reports to plan properly, e.g. they
report comprehensively issues bordering on structures and instructional materials. The
educational officers and coordinators report their findings after inspection to the
agency through the director who acts based on their findings.
Budgeting: The agencyforwards to the governor the policies and proposals for
effective teaching and learning in literacy centre; staff training is also built into
budgeting. They are included for effective and smooth running of the programme
through the director. Meanwhile the agency experiences poor funding generally.
Most of the literacy centres have closed down due to non-payment of stipends to the
facilitators by the local government chairman. Meanwhile, some of the state agencies
in Nigeria are responsible for facilitators' stipends and it is not applicable in Enugu
state.
Supervision: Education officers can, on their own, enter any local government and
know how things are done. The zonal officers can equally visit any centre and report to
the headquarters their findings. In each literacy centre, we have head facilitators and
co-coordinators that also assess what is obtainable in literacy centres, and also
develop report and forward to the headquarters. In terms of supervision, the ministry
of education supervises or carries out oversight functions over the agency. The agency
relates with the ministry well as National Mass Education Commission. There is dual
relationship between the states and the national. However, there are no vehicles for
supervision; the agency hires vehicles for supervision. Based on the above findings on
ineffective management practices, there is need to adopt strategies for effective
management of Adult Education in Niger State.
Strategies
Strategy is all these—method, technique, plan, approach and policy. Strategy is at
once the course we chart, the journey we imagine, and, at the same time, it is the course
we steer, the trip we actually make. Even when we are embarking on a voyage of
discovery, with no particular destination in mind, the voyage has a purpose, an
outcome, an end to be kept in view (Nickols, 2012). He maintained that strategy has
no existence apart from the ends sought.
Historically, as adopted by military scholars and applied to the military, strategy in
management popularly known as strategic management involves a style of
management adopted at a policy level of an organizational structure. Hence strategy
is a general framework that provides guidance for actions to be taken and, at the
same time, is shaped by the actions taken. This means that the necessary precondition
for formulating strategy is a clear and widespread understanding of the ends to be
obtained. Without these ends in view, action is purely tactical and can quickly
degenerate into nothing more than a flailing about. Strategies have been described
as management's game plan for strengthening the organization's position, pleasing
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customers and achieving performance target (Yip, 1992). This could imply that
without a strategy, an organization has no thought-out course to follow, no road map
to manage and no unified action programme to produce the intended results.
Ndiokho (1994) viewed strategies in relative term as approaches or techniques that
are employed in the process of getting things done effectively in an organization.
Thompson and Strickland (1994) conceptualized strategy as an overall plan of what
an organization/ firm want to be. They further stated that it is a comprehensive
programme for achieving its goals and objectives and thus achieving its mission or
unique purpose.
Stressing the importance of strategy in management, Ouston (1993) suggested that
individuals, schools, and organizations must develop the right management strategies
for themselves. He suggested that a good approach for effective strategies is to
identify the current practices and determine what to add and/or subtract. The present
study adopted this approach for effective strategies for management of adult
education agency in Enugu State.
However, in conceptualizing strategy, Websters (2000) defines strategy as a plan, a
method, and services of maneuvers for obtaining a specific result. Strategy is a plan
that is intended to achieve a particular purpose (Hornby, 2001). This study therefore
adopts the above definition as the operational definition of strategy. To achieve such
a result may require that funds be provided and managed; learners, facilitators and
staff motivated; proper planning of the programme; proper retention among
workers; proper supervision and proper programme evaluation.
Evolving strategies for effective management of adult education is important because
of learners' stage of development and its implication to acquisition of skills. It is
important therefore that adult education programmes are well managed to sustain
the interest of learners and to help them acquire literacy skills that could be used
throughout life. Consequently, strategies for effective management of adult education
in Enugu State are essential.
Writing on the importance of good strategy to effective management of
organization, Morris (1987) opined that crafting and implementing strategy are core
management functions. He postulated that among all the things managers do, few
affect company's long-term direction, develop competitively effective strategic
moves and approaches, and execute the strategy in ways that produce the targeted
results. According to Hamel and Prahalad (1993), good strategy and good strategy
execution are the most trustworthy signs of good management.
Management Strategies in Adult Education
The strategies applied will influence the efficiency and effectiveness of the services
delivery system; it also requires the proper allocation of responsibilities, and makes
an allowance for flexibilities and innovativeness. An effective management strategy
168
aims for an improvement in work performance through motivation of workers,

facilitators and learners by harmonizing tasks, delegating duties and ensuring the
free flow of information. Co-operation and collaboration at work and in life are
encouraged in the belief that true progress is that which can benefit all (Nafukho et al,
2011). This formed the choice of including motivation and staff retention strategies for
managing the adult education agency in Enugu State. For the purpose of this study, the
following strategies will be considered:
Funding
Financing is the provision of money for an adult education organisation's activities at
the time it is required. Financial management in adult education is the process of
monitoring how the activities chosen are being undertaken, when and with what
resources, whether they are delivering the desired results, and whether to make new
choice. (Nafukho, et al 2011).Therefore, funding strategies with regards to this study
may include: establishing of skill acquisition by the government, government
allocation and support from international donors among others.
Planning
This involves deciding the objectives of goals of the organization and preparing how
to meet them (Cole, 2003). Govindaraja&Natarajan (2005) posit that planning is
deciding in advance what to do, when to do it, and who is to do it. However, planning
strategies include establishing uniform curriculum within the state, involving expert in
adult education during planning process, conducting needs assessments among others.
Motivation
This is defined as the forces that energize, direct and sustain people in their effort to
perform effectively and to achieve their personal goals (Nafukho et al, 2011).
Motivation according to Cole (2003) is meeting the social and psychological needs of
employees in the fulfillment of organizational goals. However, this can be achieved
through staff training, promotion, payment of staff salaries among others. Motivation
is the driving force which moves an individual to achieve personal or organizational
goals. There are two types of motivation: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation exists within an individual and results from job satisfaction,
recognition, positive self- esteem, better quality of life and self-confidence (
Obiozor&Obidiegwu, 2013), while extrinsic motivation is driven from external
pressures such as salary increases, promotions and other incentives. They
maintained that through motivation, a manager can fully utilize and develop the
human resources.
Conclusion
A study on strategies for effective management and Administration of adult education
agency in Niger State was carried out. The study revealed current management
169
practices on the various dimensions of adult education management and their loop
holes. Based on the findings, the following strategies hereunder presented were
identified. The strategies which are specifically designed for use in Niger State, if
carefully implemented, are hoped to improve adult education management
effectively and bring about development. The strategies include: funding, planning,
motivational, staff retention, supervisory and evaluation. It is also hoped that the
professionally trained facilitators and coordinators will be on course to adequately
adopt the strategies in their various locations.
Recommendation
Based on the findings, discussions, and conclusion, the following recommendations
were made:
The state agency for Adult and Non-Formal Education, Niger should adopt the
strategies for effective management of adult education within the state. The agency
should also organize workshops for facilitators and other staff on adult education
management strategies. This will take care of the irregularities identified in their
management practices.
Governments should at least beef up the allocation for adult education nationwide.
This will enable the management pay the facilitators and other staff allowance as well
as other incentive meant for them.
State government should ensure that only the qualified facilitators with minimum of
NCE should manage the literacy centres. As for other staff of Adult Education Agency,
they should at least have their first or second degrees, in Adult Education or related
field. This could be achieved through recruitment of enough of the many unemployed
specialists in the field of adult education in the state.
The State agency should make provision for vehicles and allowances for the
supervisors and on regular basis too.
The Government in collaboration with donor agencies should supply enough teaching
and learning materials to facilitate learning. They should also evaluate the
programme at the end for proper accounting.
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BELLO Lapai International Journal of Administration LIJAD ISSN: 2616-1346 (Print)

Etsu Abubakar ISSN: 2756-5246 (Online)

STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF

BELLO ETSU ABUBAKAR

controlled, cannot achieve success. The success of any organization or institution

knowledge, understanding and education, stop.

organizing the programmes, controlling of human and material resources,

attempting to attain stated organizational objectives. It involves the development of

aims for an improvement in work performance through motivation of workers,

Adesanya, O. A. (1992). Administration management. Enugu: Fourth Dimensions.

Nafukho, M. N., Ngwuire, N. H.W & Lam, P. M. K (2011).Management of adult

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