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PurposeThis paper seeks to adopt an investigative approach to post‐occupancy evaluation using major technical and functional criteria of performance on the facilities of a postgraduate hostel at the campus of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachData collection was based on a survey through self‐administered questionnaires in which users of the building were asked to report on their perceptions and experience of the facility. The user satisfaction survey was developed based on the students' feedback on their experience with 29 identified performance criteria obtained from a review of the literature and an interview with a member of the university's hall management committee. Data at the organizational level were collected by personal interviews with the facilities manager and co‐ordinator of hostels of the university.FindingsThe user satisfaction survey identified areas of deficiency, particularly in maintenance, and facilitated the assessment of the overall performance of the building.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates how universities in Nigeria can assess the management of hostel facilities by hostel administrators and facilities managers. Apart from the results of the user satisfaction survey being useful as evidence to access funds for the improvement of student hostel facilities, the feedback will be helpful in the design and management of new hostel facilities.

Purpose Literature established that applicable parameters must be used in determining facilities management (FM) performance in any market; otherwise, findings could be confusing and misleading. This is particularly relevant to Nigeria where FM application is in its infancy and seriously constrained by particular socio-economic conditions which make it prone to crises situations such as frequent power outages and surges, abundance of fake and adulterated construction materials and equipment, heavy presence of unqualified artisans, poor transparency and terribly chaotic and unpredictable traffic to mention a few. Hence, this research aims to identify contextual parameters for evaluating performance of FM service in office buildings in Lagos, reflecting these peculiarities. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts survey design, using self-administered questionnaires that were served on building occupants. Means and standard deviation were used in the analyses. Factor analysis was used in identifying the important factors or constructs and to confirm the practical significance of the measures. Findings The study developed a multi-item scale of 41 measures for evaluating performance of facilities managers in offices in Lagos, Nigeria. The scale comprises three major dimensions, i.e. “financial”, “quality of service” and “crises response and management”. Using factor analysis, the study identified five important factors, two of which (comprising ten new measures) have not been featured in previous studies. Practical implications The developed performance measurement scales (PMS) can be applied to FM performance evaluation, management and control in the Nigerian context. The PMS and identified factors would also aid FM policy formulation, resource allocation and facilities review. Originality/value The research is considered the first to develop a PMS for FM in office facilities in Lagos, Nigeria. The new factors and measures that were uncovered in the study makes it possible to evaluate the Nigerian facility manager’s ability to manage the near-crises challenges imposed by the peculiar socio-economic context. Furthermore, the scale adopts simplistic financial success criteria, which makes it relevant and easy to use for the poor financial record disclosing and research-averse Nigerian audience. It is also more relevant to the less strategic and more operational task-based Nigerian FM context and by extension, to the context of other developing countries with similar socio-economic features.

Purpose Benchmarking in FM practice although understood and applied globally, little is known about the practice in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to guide the use of benchmarking. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires on FM organizations in Lagos metropolis, Abuja and Port Harcourt. The results of the survey were supplemented with interviews with FM unit heads in the study areas. The framework was validated using a focus group discussion with ten FM industry experts. Findings A framework which serves as a guide for the use of best practice benchmarking was developed. It showed that there is a relationship between best practice benchmarking and location. Research limitations/implications The evaluation of the framework was limited by the number of participants involved and being that it has not been put to use. Originality/value This study develops a multi-sector framework to guide the use of best practice benchmarking in facilities management (FM). The framework explains the relationship between organizational characteristics and best practice benchmarking. In addition, there are limited empirical benchmarking frameworks in FM literature.

Purpose -This paper aims to examine common environmental practices and strategies for implementing sustainable FM among Nigerian FM practitioners. Design/methodology/approach -A review of the literature on sustainability and environmental management was undertaken. Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires directed to a sample of 150 facilities managers who are members of the International Facility Management Association (Nigeria Group), Lagos, Nigeria. Structured interviews with five top facilities management professionals were also conducted. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, means, z-test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and relative importance index. The survey achieved a response rate of 30 percent. Findings -The survey revealed that many of the practitioners put a premium on achieving energy efficiency as a very vital environmental practice within their organizations. A strategic management procedure is more important for the implementation of environmental management in the Nigerian FM industry. Originality/value -There is a paucity of literature in sustainability within facilities management in Nigeria. An integration of sustainability considerations into FM practice is required to promote the development of suitable environmental initiatives and practices within Nigerian cities, as many facilities managers are employed by companies whose activities harm the environment.

Purpose – The paper aims to examine benchmarking challenges among Nigerian Facilities management (FM) practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires sent to 120 FM organizations in Lagos metropolis, 50 in Abuja and 15 in Port Harcourt. Also, interviews were conducted on six facilities managers to ascertain challenges faced by organizations that use best practice benchmarking. The survey achieved a total response rate of 74 per cent in Lagos, 66 per cent in Abuja and 93 per cent in Port Harcourt, respectively. Grand mean scores and relative importance index were used to ascertain ranking of the challenges. One-way analysis of variance and t-test were used to establish whether organizations’ characteristics bring about significant differences in the types of benchmarking challenges encountered. Findings – Overall, the top four challenges of benchmarking were “unwillingness of employees to change”, “inadequate understanding of the exercise of benchmarking”, “inadequate access to data from other organizations” and “poor execution of-the benchmarking exercise”. Also, FM organization location result in a significant difference in benchmarking challenges. Practical implications – The implication of the study is that it will assist in identifying impediments to benchmarking and barriers faced during benchmarking and, thus, enable recommendations to be made to minimize such challenges. Originality/value – There are limited empirical studies on the problems of benchmarking in developing countries.

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Revenue sharing or allocation in federal political system is prone to a number of problems rooted in politics. Federalized system essentially places emphasis on cooperation and compromise. Revenue allocation in a federal system is one such area that call for a great deal of consensus built on meaningful compromises. Of the many problem that have always arisen with regard to revenue sharing in all federations, two stand out with respect to Nigeria. The first is how to deal with the problems arising from inequalities in size and wealth among federating units. The second is how to ensure that growth of any unit does not suffer because some other unit(s) shows inability to catch up with the more progressive one(s). These problems have been variously tackled in Nigeria through the instrument of fiscal review Commissions. These Commissions had operated under very charged atmospheres given the highly emotive and volatile nature of the politics of revenue allocation. The nature and outcome of the efforts of these Commissions remain ad hoc arising questions over their utility in dealing with the ever-controversial and polemical issue of revenue allocation. This paper is an attempt at an inquiring into the forces at work in the politics of revenue sharing in Nigeria. Have the various formulas served the purpose of ensuring equitable fiscal federalism? It is argued in this paper that the dream of equitable and acceptable revenue sharing in Nigeria is yet to be realized, and will remain far-fetched as long as political calculations govern the choice of formula to the virtual exclusion of sound economic and public finance practice based on optimal allocation efficiency and distributive equity.