Prevalent Crime in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions and Administrative Strategies for its Effective Management

Abstract

This study examined crime in tertiary institutions in southern Nigeria.  The purpose of the study was to identify the common crime prevalent in the institution, the administrative strategies for managing crime and find out the extent to which institution managers or Administrators are employing the identified strategies to ensure a crime free environment. Three research questions were asked and answered. The sample of the study was drawn from a population of tertiary institutions in Southern Nigeria  A sample of 932 respondents were selected through stratified random sampling technique from nine tertiary institutions in South-West Nigeria. The questionnaire was the instrument for collection of data from the respondents. It is divided into three sub-scales. Cronbach Alpha for the three sub scales yielded 0.84, 0.80 and 0.76. The finding revealed the common crime prevalent in tertiary institution in South-West Nigeria as examination malpractices, assault, plagiarism, sexual harassment, and certificate forgery. The findings further showed that crime management strategies like mounting closed circuit camera in strategic locations, regular monitoring of activities, use of anti-cult group are some of the identified crime management strategies. The extent of employment of the identified strategies in crime management is low.