INSTITUTIONALIZING TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL NIGERIA: THE PLACE OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

摘要

Nigeria is blessed with both natural and human resources. The level of technology development however has not justified this huge endowment. This may be because; leaders in Nigeria have not effectively made technology development parts and parcel of regular programmes and activities relevant to this sector of development. This study focused on the effects of leaders socio-economic characteristics on leadership effectiveness. The study was carried out in Berate state, Nigeria. A total of 160 randomly selected respondents participated in the study. Descriptive statistics such as percentages and means were used to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of leaders. The analysis showed that 70% of the respondents were males aged between 31 and 60 years and had attained a minimum of primary education. Logit regression model was used to analyse the relationship of selected socio-economic characteristics and leadership effectiveness. It was found that educational attainment, income, courage and eloquence had significant effects on leadership effectiveness. The study concluded that institutionalized technology development will yield better result with leaders' commitment in that regard The paper suggests that sectoral leaders should be people of relevant profession.