MAINTENANCE CULTURAL PRACTICES AND PERFORMANCE OF NIGERIA PORT AUTHORITY, ONNE

1.1 Introduction

Maintenance culture in Nigeria is one of the lowest around the world, especially, in our principal towns and cities where the majority of public properties are located. Maintenance culture defines the values, way of thinking, behaviour, perception, and the underlying assumptions of any person or group or society that considers maintenance as a matter that is important (priority) and practices it in their life. When a person or group has maintenance culture, they would have the attitude to maintain, preserve and protect the public facilities (Suwaibatul et. al, 2012). Port authorities have traditionally been responsible for the development and improvement of the port area (van, 2021) related to port operations, ranging from infrastructure development and maintenance to the marketing and management of port facilities (Rodrigue et al., 2021).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Seaports are a way of joining the global economic system and play an important role in the growth of trade and the global economy (Dwarakish et al., 2015). They are often described as economic entities providing a service between different modes of transport or as facilities through which cargo passes, making an important part of the supply chain and logistics (Woo et al., 2011). Owing to their size and complexity, modern seaports cannot be viewed as a single entity. In this respect, as an important part of the transport system, the seaport includes strong cooperation between various stakeholders, such as port authorities, shipping companies, freight brokers, etc. (Tijan et al., 2020).

In the last decade, new developments in port strategies have emerged around the world port authorities are changing their nature and function, increasingly taking an active role in the management of logistics systems and sometimes adopting management and entrepreneurial behaviors (Cepolina et al., 2013). Port authorities, as port governance bodies, have been proactive in developing port information systems through the availability and distribution of information technologies, improvement of interaction and exchange information between stakeholders, such as customs, freight forwarders and carriers (Rodrigue et al., 2021).

Governance is a term used for the adoption and implementation of laws regulating behavior and property rights. Adjusting policies and organizational priorities to comply with the contextual economic climate is the scope of governance reform (Brooks et al., 2011). Port governance is characterized by the laws and regulations imposed by the government on a seaport, and it can be regarded as the corporate governance of the seaport in which the port organization has a fiduciary duty to serve the corporation′s ultimate objectives and to serve the shareholders′ interests (Zhang et al., 2019).

Port authorities are institutions of a hybrid nature that incorporate elements of both public and private law, regardless of the ownership and management traditions to which they belong (Verhoeven, 2010). This hybrid nature makes port authorities ideally prepared to face the various challenges placed on the seaport by both market forces and society (ESPO, 2020). In general, the port authority, also known as port management or port administration, is the administrative body of the port (PPIAF, 2020). There are many definitions of a port authority such as “the official organization that controls and manages the activities in a port” (Cambridge et al., 2020), “land manager with responsibility for a safe, sustainable and competitive development of the port” (van et al., 2020), “state, municipal, public, or private body, which is largely responsible for the tasks of construction, administration and sometimes the operation of port facilities and, in certain circumstances, for security” (PPIAF, 2020). In most countries, the port authority is a public or semi-public body responsible for managing and improving the port area through the construction and maintenance of infrastructure, the leasing or concessionary provision of this infrastructure to private companies, and the growth and competitiveness of the port cluster. In a basic context, most port authorities function according to the ‘landlord’ model, which will be elaborated in the fourth section (Dooms et al., 2013).

Port authorities can be established at all levels of government: national, regional, provincial, or local. The most prevalent form is the local level of government, which means it manages only one port area (PPIAF, 2020) through its power position and interactions with landlord, regulatory, and community manager functions (Zhang et al., 2018). The power balance with government is a major factor affecting the legal and regulatory structure, the financial capacity, and the space for a pro-active management culture at the port authority corporate level (World Bank, 2019). Most port authorities, regardless of whether the level of government is national (e.g., Cyprus), regional (e.g., Belgium and the Netherlands) or local (e.g., Korea), have retained at least control over, if not ownership of, the port infrastructure. One exception to this is the case of Taiwan, as most port operations remain state-run in the hands of the port authority (Clark et al., 2004).

Port authorities can be established at all levels of government: national, regional, provincial, or local. The most prevalent form is the local level of government, which means it manages only one port area (Omoke et al., 2019) through its power position and interactions with landlord, regulatory, and community manager functions (Ziaul et al., 2018). The power balance with government is a major factor affecting the legal and regulatory structure, the financial capacity, and the space for a pro-active management culture at the port authority corporate level (World Bank, 2019). Most port authorities, regardless of whether the level of government is national, regional (e.g., Belgium and the Netherlands) or local, have retained at least control over, if not ownership of, the port infrastructure. One exception to this is the case of Taiwan, as most port operations remain state-run in the hands of the port authority (Clark et al., 2004).

Therefore, in Onne Seaport where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Maintenance Cultural Practices and Performance of Nigeria Port Authority.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the research problem stems from often outdated execution and monitoring of business processes in seaports. The problem of ports capacity and congestion, high level of demurrage, competitive structures, lack of facilities, level of investment and management deficit are issues confronting the smooth operation of ports activities, thereby stifling the quantum of revenue generation to the nation's treasury (Brooks et al., 2008; Caldeirinha et al., 2018 and Zhang et al., 2019).

Maintenance culture development in Nigeria can be achieved through the implementation of the leadership factors that should be done by someone who was called leaders toward culture maintenance practices among all his followers. This paper presents a comprehensive review of existing literature, providing a better understanding of the role of port authorities in port governance, the role of port authorities in Port Community Systems (PCS) implementation, and the impact of PCS implementation on sustainability in seaports.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to evaluate the Maintenance Cultural Practices and Performance of Nigeria Port Authority, Onne. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To investigate the factors affecting the maintenance cultural practices of Onne seaport,
2. To examine the level of maintenance culture employed in Onne seaport.
3. To determine the ways of enhancing the quality of Nigeria Port Authority Project through improved maintenance culture.
4. To suggest solutions to the above stated problem affecting the maintenance cultural practices and performance of Onne seaport

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are there factors affecting the maintenance cultural practices of Onne seaport?
• What is the level of maintenance culture employed in Onne seaport?
• What are the ways of enhancing the quality of Nigeria Port Authority Project through improved maintenance culture?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no significant factors affecting the maintenance cultural practices of Onne seaport
• H1: There are significant factors affecting the maintenance cultural practices of Onne seaport

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1.7 Significance of Study

The findings from this study will educate the government and policy makers, stakeholders in seaport and the general public on the need for improvement in maintenance culture as a way of improving the quality of Nigeria Port Authority property. This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Maintenance Cultural Practices and Performance of Nigeria Port Authority, Onne in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Predictable Maintenance: This is regular periodic work that may be necessary to retain the performance characteristics of a product as well as that required to replace or repair the product after it has achieved a useful life span.

Schedule Maintenance: This is also a type of preventive maintenance that takes place at predetermined interval of time, number of operation, mileage etc.

Unplanned Maintenance: This is the maintenance that takes place at no predetermined plan. It is referred to as semi -emergency maintenance.

Unpredictable Maintenance: This is the work resulting from unforeseen breakdowns or damage due to external causes.

Avoidable Maintenance: This is the work required to rectify failures caused by incorrect design, incorrect installation or the use of faulty materials.

Emergency Maintenance: This is the work that is carried out in order to avoid serious problems. It is otherwise referred to a s day-to-day maintenance.

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1.11 Organization of the Study

Chapter one of the study, provides background of the study, stating the problem of the study and the research questions and hypotheses to be tested in the study. It also highlights the significance of the study and scope of the study.

Chapter two reviews related literature on the Maintenance Cultural Practices and Performance of Nigeria Port Authority, Onne.

Chapter three discussed the research methods to be used in designing the study which will include research design, population, sample size and sampling technique, data collection and data analysis methods.

Chapter four presents the data gathered in frequency and percentage tables. The data will also be analyzed and research hypotheses will be tested with chi-square statistical test.

Chapter five summarizes the outcome of the study, draw conclusions based on the findings of the study and make necessary recommendations.