Improving Leadership and Functional University Education Delivery in Universities for Sustainable Development

The present study examined the enhancement of leadership and delivery of functional education in Rivers State’s public universities to foster sustainable development. Utilizing a descriptive survey design, we aimed to answer Two research questions; What are the ways leadership in public universities in Rivers State can be improved to foster sustainable development of the State?, What are the ways functional university education delivery can be improved to foster sustainable development in Rivers State?, and two hypotheses were tested; There is no significant difference between the mean scores of teaching and non-teaching staff, on ways leadership can be improved in public universities in Rivers State to foster sustainable development. There is no significant difference between the mean scores of male and female lecturers on ways functional university education delivery can be improved in public universities in Rivers State to foster sustainable development. 724 teaching and non-teaching staff were selected for the study through stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using the Sustainable Development Questionnaire, which achieved a good reliability score of 0.84 via the test-retest method. Data analysis included various descriptive statistics, and rank order for the research questions, and z-test at a 0.05 significance level for the hypotheses. The study showed that to enhance leadership in Rivers State’s public universities for lasting progression, it’s important to boost leadership skills, establish clear criteria for choosing leaders, and create a supportive environment for leaders to excel. Based on the findings, recommendations were made that the government need to reconsider the effect of politicizing leadership selection and staff recruitment in Rivers State.