BackgroundAbstract Background For every world-class university emphasizing student learning as a core principle, students and their parents expect campuses provide: safe and secure environments for student learning; high-quality facilities and services responsive to student needs in a technological and “instant” environment; and beyond classroom experiences to facilitate opportunities for student growth and development toward successful careers and life post graduation. Nigeria has 129 approved universities (40 Federal, 39 State, and 50 Private). Her undergraduates are confronted with inadequate structures and facilities; inadequate housing; overcrowded classrooms; and a dearth of reading materials. Researchers based any education system’s success on principles of excellent learning and teaching material, high quality student support services, and efficient logistical systems. Student Support Services and Strategies (SSS) are approaches to enhancing students’ success through services to resolutely meet all learners’ needs.

The Educrat Journal is the maiden edition of an annual publication entirely organised and colligated by students of the Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Its aim is to collate firsthand experiences, researches and recommendations of thoroughly bred Educationists. This collation is further hoped to be forwarded to professionals, educational bodies, policy makers, stake holders, administrators and decision makers at all levels of Education, all tiers of government across the country and the world at large. It is to serve as guide and background information for on-toe individuals and tenacious establishments seeking to effect a change in Nigeria, a microcosm of Africa.

Higher education is the forefront in the production of capable human resources base of Nigeria's economy. However, regardless of efforts to establish Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities in Nigeria to prepare effective and competent students before they graduate, there has always been a fundamental shortages fund. As a result, this research was enthused by the yearning of academic staff unions on the adequacy and inadequacies of funds available for higher education in Nigeria. Adopting a descriptive research design, a structured questionnaire that was validated by experts was used for data gathering, while descriptive statistics represented in column and pie charts were used to display the results. Linear regression was used to test the hypotheses and the results revealed that the declining quality of Nigerian higher education is as a result of inadequate funding. Similarly, education funds misappropriation and mismanagement is a major reason for the deteriorating quality of Nigerian higher education. The study recommended that adequate funds should be made available for public institutions of higher learning, corruption and embezzlement should be reduced to the barest minimum. This academic work is addressed to the federal and state governments, higher education planners, leaders and researchers who are interested in having empirical information on education funds misappropriation and mismanagement and their impacts on the provision of quality higher education in Nigeria.

ABSTRACT The study examined students housing satisfaction in private hostels in Ile-Ife. It examined the socio-economic characteristics of students in private hostels in Ile-Ife, examined the quality of private hostel facilities, examined the environmental quality in private hostels and students satisfaction level in private hostels in the study area. This was with a view to providing information that could enhance the quality of life of students. Data were collected from students residing in fifteen (15) identified purposely built private hostels in the study area. There were a total of 506 rooms in the identified purposely built private hostels. Sample size was derived by selecting 15% of the rooms in each hostel using systematic sampling technique. A total of 76 rooms were selected for survey. Questionnaire was administered to a student in each room. Thus a total number of 76 questionnaire was administered. The study revealed that there were more male students residing in private hostels than female in the study area. The study also showed that majority of students residing in private hostels in the study area is in their fourth academic year in the university. The study further revealed that 63.2% of students in private hostels received between ₦10,000 to ₦20,000, as their monthly allowance. The study also revealed that toilet, bathroom, kitchen, laundry, veranda, waste dump, drainage and roof facility are all in good conditions with a facility condition index of 3.605, 3.566, 3.592, 3.026, 3.447, 3.381, 3.526 and 4.000 respectively. The study revealed that 40.8% of students in private hostels have a good power supply. The study revealed that water quality, air quality, electricity supply, structural condition of buildings among others is very good in private hostels in the study area. The study concluded that students residing in private hostels in the study area are satisfied with their residential condition. This is due to the good quality of available facilities and utilities in private hostels, efficient hostel management system, aesthetically pleasing hostel design, clean hostel environment, good condition of hostel facilities and proper hostel rules. The study recommended that private hostel developers should be more conscious of the quality of hostel being provided so as to further enhance the satisfaction level of students residing there and also to ensure the proper maintenance of private hostel facilities.

University education, if properly managed remains an appropriate mechanism through which human and nation development could be attained. In spite of numerous studies that have explored academic performance in Nigeria, the contributions of parental prominence and student housing quality on academic success are yet to be explored in the nation’s public universities. This study addresses this gap by raising this question: to what extent does parental prominence and student housing predict the attainment of academic success among university undergraduates? The cross-sectional survey design, with multi-stage and purposive sampling technique was adopted. Primary information was sourced from 426 final year students of OAU, OOU and AAUA. The outcome variable of this study was academic success; and it was measured by student’s attainment of outstanding or weak academic success. The key explanatory variables were parental prominence and student housing quality. Multivariate rank ordered-logistic regression and ANOVA was applied using Stata 14. Results showed that academic success was negatively associated with student housing quality. Also, results showed that parental prominence (marital status, employment status, gender preference, occupation type) were statistically associated with academic success. Results further showed that student housing quality and financial supports contributed about 9% to academic success. The study concluded that the challenges posed by inadequate and poor student housing facilities, lack of adequate financial supports for university students, parental gender preference in meeting-up with education needs of their children must be addressed in order to stimulate the attainment of outstanding academic success among students of public universities in Southwest, Nigeria.

Academic research is undertaken to solve problems confronting practice, yet practitioners claimed that research outputs do not improve practice. Therefore, this research assesses key areas of quantity surveying academic research (QSAR), essentials of QSAR and factors affecting their use in practice. Primary data on the essentials of QSAR and factors affecting its use were collected through the questionnaire survey from a total of 54 stratified selected quantity surveyors in the academics and construction industry in South-Western Nigeria. Historical data on key areas of QSAR was collected from libraries of public universities offering quantity surveying (QS) and construction management at higher degrees. Mean item score was used to analyze the primary data while taxonomy was generated from the historical data. The study revealed that QSAR is not been used in practice though it contains appropriate content with high quality. Poor record keeping of QSAR, absence of collaboration and inadequate funding are the most significant factors affecting its use. Also, QSAR have been conducted in all the competency areas except for computer literacy. The implication is that practitioners should endeavour to use research outputs to enhance practice and that symposia should be organized to communicate the needs of practitioners and academics.

The paper concentrates on issues of building true citizenship and the challenges of attaining the ideals of True citizenship in Nigeria Society. It considers the variables of true citizenship envisioned by the past national leaders and how the society and politics played crucial roles in directing the values of the nation towards building national consciousness and commitment to nation building. It concluded on values that can be emulated in the life of average Nigerians to be able to exhibit true leadership qualities and true citizenship spirit