Labour Productivity in Construction Industry in Nigeria: Case of Lagos and Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria

The problem of labor productivity in construction industry in Nigeria has been an issue of concern to most contractors and professionals.  This paper attempts to identify the factors that affect labor productivity by conducting a survey that relates to these problems encountered at construction sites.  Eighteen (18) problems that could affect construction labor productivity were identified and a qualitative survey was conducted using questionnaires.  One hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were distributed out of which 104 were returned (87%).  The problems were ranked in their answers in terms of ‘very often’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’ , ‘rarely’ , or ‘never’.  The analysis of the survey was performed using the importance index.  The values of the importance indices identified the involvement of non professionals, material shortages; variation in cost of materials, recruitment of supervisors, inclement weather, stoppage because of owner/landowners conflict, stoppage because of insolvency of subcontractor/suppliers, labor disruption, delay in material deliveries to site, disruption of power/water supply as the major factors affecting labor output.  The recruitment of workers was identified as of little significance in the studied areas. Keywords: Construction, Labour productivity

Residents’ perception of housing quality index for dwellings’ physical characteristics in the core area of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

This study examines residents’ perception of housing quality index for dwellings’ physical characteristics in the core area Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, South-west Nigeria. A survey of 602 households randomly selected from the core area was done. The results of the study revealed that more than half of the respondents indicated that the present condition of the dwellings components like (roofs, walls, windows, floors, foundations and fascia boards) in the study area was in a very bad state. Subsequently, housing quality index (H.Q.I) for the entire sample was evaluated and the housing quality indexes results were found to be below average (fair) using a five-point Likert scale, starting from very bad (rated as 1), fair (rated as 3) to very good (rated as 5) to calculate the total weighted values of all rated attributes and means values of rated attributes in the study area. Surveyed results have shown significant deterioration in quality of dwellings components in the core area, due to age of buildings and lack of maintenance. The study concluded that there is an urgent need to replace the bad dwellings components, build new structures, provides basic amenities like electricity, pipe-borne water, roads/drainages and to refurbish the existing ones to ensure that the residents do not lack all these amenities

Driving Behaviour of Taxi Drivers towards Sustainable Public Road Transport in Ogun State, Nigeria

Driving is a psychomotor activity that requires combination of mental concentration and good visual functions. Regrettably, incessant deviant driving behaviour of commercial taxi drivers is worrisome. This study examines the driving behaviour of taxi drivers towards sustainable public road transport in Ogun State, Nigeria. Seven hundred and fifty (750) copies of questionnaire were distributed using multistage and random sampling techniques. Multiple Regression and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to test postulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. More males (94%) are involved in commercial taxi driving than female (6%); and 91% had driving experience of more than two years. Factors influencing deviant driving behaviour of taxi drivers are intake of alcohol (72%); intake of drugs and other local substances before and while driving (65%); attitudes of traffic officers (96%); traffic situation (90%); demand for services (96%) and vehicle condition (88%). There is statistically significant relationship between years of driving experience and driving behaviour of taxi drivers (F14735 17.118= P<0.05). Meanwhile, nine (9) out of the fourteen (14) predictors best predict driving behaviour of commercial drivers. This study recommends adherence to road safety driving rules and enforcement measures