Leadership Effectiveness of Zonal Extension Officers by Extension Agents in Kwara State Agricultural Development Programme, Nigeria

Abstract

In the structure of the Kwara Agricultural Development Programme, the position of Zonal Extension Officers (ZEO) is vital and central to the execution of the extension programmes which are implemented through the frontline Extension Agents. The study examined the leadership effectiveness of the Zonal Extension Officers (ZEOs) in Kwara State Agricultural Development Programme, factors that hindered the leadership effectiveness of ZEOs and the demographic characteristics of ZEOs and Extension Agents (EAs) in Kwara State Agricultural Development Programme. One hundred and thirty (130) EAs and four (4) ZEOs were purposively selected for the study. Primary data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analysed with descriptive statistics while the hypotheses were tested with Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Chi-Square Statistics. Results of the study revealed that 94.6% of the EAs and all four ZEOs acquired tertiary education. The EAs and the ZEOs had an average of 8.01 and 5 years of field experience respectively. Furthermore, 59.2%, 58.5% and 50% of ZEOs were effective only in clarifying the organization’s goals, ineffective in staff motivation and communication respectively. There was a significant relationship between level of education (χ2 = 47.53, p=<0.05), years of experience (r=0.27, p=<0.05) of EAs and perceived leadership effectiveness of ZEOs. Based on the empirical evidence, the ZEOs need to improve their job performances. Extension personnel should acquire tertiary education with cognate field experience before they could function as ZEOs for optimum effectiveness.