Challenges facing the planning of higher education in federal capital territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Planning of Higher institutions in Nigeria and in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria has always been confronted with many challenges. This purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges facing planning of higher institutions in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. A descriptive research method was adopted for the study. The total numbers of hundred (100) respondents were selected from various agencies and ministry of education using stratified and systematic sampling technique with the use questionnaires to collect information from respondents who participated in the study. The data collected were carefully analyzed using percentages supported by chi-square to represent the raw data in a meaningful manner. The questionnaire was validated by two lecturers from University of Abuja department of educational administration. Two research questions and one hypothesis were developed for the study. Test-retest reliability was employed for the study. Result collected and analyzed revealed that there is significant relationship between planning of higher institutions and challenges. This result also showed that political influence, political instability, inadequate data, inadequate fund to plan, pressure group, inadequate planning and poor capacity of planner are the challenges facing the planning of higher institutions. The paper recommends that the government should increase the budgetary allocation for educational planning in the country.


INTRODUCTION
Defines tertiary education as the education given after secondary education in Universities, Colleges of Education, Polytechnics, Monotechnics, as well as those institutions offering correspondence courses. According to (2), Higher Education refers to a system which embraces much of the country's research capacity and reproduces majority of the skilled professionals that are required in the labour market. (3) Views higher education thus "Higher Education is taken to embody all organized learning and training activities at the tertiary level. This includes conventional universities, those with the conventional arts, humanities and science faculties as well as specialized universities like institutions specializing in agriculture, engineering, science, and technology. It also includes post-secondary institutions such as the polytechnics and colleges of education. "Higher Education" includes all forms of professional institutions drawing from the available pool of persons who have completed a various forms of secondary school education: Institution of the military, the police, nurses, agriculture, forestry, veterinary workers, catering services, tourism, secretarial services and other possible combinations of programmes. Even this wide spectrum does not exhaust the possibilities of forms of Higher Education…… such as non formal higher education. Indeed, any situations in which mature persons are organized for building up their knowledge and skills, to apply knowledge to the analysis and search for solutions to life problems." According to the National Policy on Education the following are aims of higher education in Nigeria: 1) the acquisition, development and inculcation of the proper value orientation for the survival of the individual and societies; 2) the development of the intellectual capacities of individuals to understand and appreciate environment; 3) the acquisition of both physical and intellectual skills which will enable individuals to develop into useful members of the community; International Journal on Integrated Education e-ISSN : 2620 3502 p-ISSN : 2615 3785 Volume 3, Issue VI, June 2020 | states take care of secondary education, while the local governments handle primary education. Despite this arrangement, the Federal Government is expected to support the state and local governments in counterpart funding to enhance the quality of education in the country. (5) The planning and administration of the education system is shared mainly among the education ministries at the federal and state levels, as well as statutory bodies referred to as commissions. There are commissions established for different subsectors of the education system and are charged with various responsibilities for the subsectors. The FME is responsible for the coherence of the national policy and procedures and for ensuring that the states' policies operate within the parameters of the national policy as adapted for local needs (6 These commissions are responsible for policy decisions affecting institutions under their supervision, maintenance of standards through a system of periodic accreditation of courses, distribution and monitoring of government funding, appointment of members of governing councils, and the day-to-day running of the institutions. (5) Abuja is the capital of Nigeria. The City is host to many higher institutions. The private higher institutions are spread across the city while the public higher institutions are located in the southern part of the City. The majorities of the higher institutions located in FCT, Abuja are faced with many challenges such as shortage of staff, inadequate infrastructural facilities, over-crowded lecturer halls and inadequate funds. (4) Submits that Nigeria s higher education is beset more by evidences of systemic maladies rather than salutary breakthroughs. The predicaments commonly characteristic of Nigerian higher institutions of learning since the 1980s, and especially in the 1990 s and in this 21st century include obvious inadequacy of funding; low staff motivation; the brain drain syndrome; disproportionate staff-student ratio; and scanty research feats. The educational malpractices easily identified in higher institutions are examination fraud; students versus host community clashes; cultism; students' indecent dress code; drug abuse; violent behaviour and sexual harassment; shallow teaching; financial exploitation of students by lecturers; among others. All this problems are traced to lack of effective planning of higher education in the country and in FCT in Particularly. It is based on this submission that the purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges facing planning of higher education in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria.

Meaning of Planning
According to (7), planning implies given thoughts to the goals, aspirations and priorities of a nation. Planning involves examining the future and drawing up a course of action for attaining specific goals. It means working out in broad outline the things to be done and the procedures for doing them to accomplish set purpose (8). (9) defined planning as "the process of preparing a set of decisions for action in the future and directed at achieving goals by optional means". Planning is intelligent preparation for action. It is a process of deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who should do it. It bridges the gap from where we are and where we want to go. Planning is therefore, future-oriented. It is concerned with the future and involves predicting the effect of future events so that hindrances of the present could be minimized or eliminated in order to meet the future with more confidence and success (8). According to (10), planning can be simply described as the process of e-ISSN : 2620 3502 p-ISSN : 2615 3785 Volume 3, Issue VI, June 2020 | drawing or sketching an object on a flat surface just like the earliest form of building plans. Planning is a process of designing of a project or programme to be executed for a purpose. Therefore, planning is the first activity that should precede Implementation. Planning is a deliberate and organized process. It is also rational and continuous. Planning can be carried out by individuals, organizations and corporate bodies. Planning can be classified into Micro-Level Planning:-This is concerned with any planning activity that is carried out at local government or institutional level, that is, the school level. It includes the planning activities by the Local Education Authority, School Managers, and teachers concerning facility planning, time-tabling, time scheduling and curriculum planning. b) Macro-Level Planning:-This involves policy making, resource allocation and target setting at state, national and international levels. However, the above classifications apply to all kinds of planning in organizations. The kinds of planning include: (a) Educational planning (b) Physical planning (c) Academic planning (d) Town and Regional planning (e) Development planning (f) Economic planning (g) Social planning (h) Curriculum planning etc. (11) (12) defines educational planning as the process of identifying educational needs and the direction education should take and how to implement decisions. This means that educational planning must reflect the state of development of a nation, including its needs and the readiness to execute the planned objectives. Educational planning can be view as a process of making deciding the future goals and how the goals will be achieved. (29) cited in (8) views educational planning as the application of rational systematic analysis to the process of educational development with the aim of making education more effective and efficient in responding to the needs and goals of the students and the society. This definition connotes that planning of education should take cognizance of the learners' needs in the areas of learning facilities and equipment, textbooks, classroom spaces and qualified educational personnel. In terms of meeting the needs of the society, educational planning should take cognizance of the manpower, cultural, social and communication needs of the society (nation) as well as the economic changes (8).

The Concept of Educational Planning
Educational planning therefore, must take into account the population growth of children of school age in relation to educational opportunities and the demand for education. Educational planning should take into account political, economic and social changes going on in the society as well as technological changes. It is therefore, a blue-print that gives direction for future educational development and prescribes the direction and course of actions for the accomplishment of set educational goals and objectives (8).
Educational planning should focus on: 1. Identifying educational needs of the nation 2. Setting realistic educational goals and objectives. 3. Formulating a set of policies and decisions to guide implementation. 4. Prescribing the means (action plan) to achieve set goals and objectives. 5. Providing strategies for monitoring and evaluation of progress 6. Providing appropriate channels for feedback and review. (8) Education planning today, according to (13) is faced with numerous challenges that required more sophisticated and better planning approaches to succeed. Some of these challenges bordered on curriculum structure, decision implementation, leadership and environmental constraint, implementation of academic programmes are carried out without in-depth analysis of problems and challenges they are expected to address. Education plans and decision implementation channel are taken in haphazard manner without proper initiatives. In other words, there is so much of whims and caprices approach to education programme planning and implementation in schools. (14) Observes that adequate consideration and planning on the factors like curriculum relevance, students enrolment, manpower development school plant maintenance, school finance management and staff/personnel matters both at the planning and implantation stages and which are indices of academic programme execution and successful implantation are given very poor attention in the schools. While, International Journal on Integrated Education e-ISSN : 2620 3502 p-ISSN : 2615 3785 Volume 3, Issue VI, June 2020 | these schools plan their growth rate in future, it is not too clear whether at the stage of planning, due consideration is given to the cost implications of the envisaged academic programme expansion. (15) A review of related literature has revealed that attempts in the past to provide free education whether at the federal or state levels has never been successful due to poor planning and implementation. This view was supported by (16) who sees poor planning as one of the problems responsible for the unsuccessful implementation of the former UPE programme. They posited that the planners of the programme were unable to project fairly accurate number of children that would gain from the scheme. According to (17) proper planning has been found to be the root of the success of every good educational policy or programme Without proper planning, the best education programme is bound to fail The UPE programme of the past suffered from lack of planning. Institutional and system planning is critical for the restoration of quality in the system. The plans developed must be linked to realistic budget plans. Through planning, issues of uncontrolled growth in the number of students, programs, and institutions, could be addressed. Regional and national development needs could be met through regional collaboration as well as by improvement of efficiency of the system. (18), also stated that dissipated effort, wasted resources, and poor results often accompany poor planning. (6) Planning, supervision and monitoring mechanisms for the entire education system have been very weak. Management problems within the system have been cited often as a factor that impacts negatively on the success of projects that have been supported by international development agencies. (19) Observes that the challenge is that since return to civil rule in 1999, there has been a lot of sporadic and adhoc planning without adherence to long term planning. Study shows that there are several factors responsible for the declining public service quality in Nigeria. The factors include poor planning; policy discontinuities, reversals and somersault; lack of participatory, open, transparent and inclusive budgeting; diversion of public funds; poor human resource management and poor performance management. (20) Submits that the Nigerian educational system has undoubtedly encountered a number of significant impediments in the last few decades and it continue to struggle with the implementation and assurance of educational and teaching quality because of lack of effective planning. A shortage of accurate statistical data, financial, qualified planners, poor national economic performance, unsuitable governing structures, political interference, and general instability have all contributed to low quality in educational planning.

Research Gap
Several studies have been carried out in regard of higher education. (21) Observes that Higher education plays a crucial role in the supply of high level manpower for the socio-political and economic development of a nation. To this end, the effective management of this educational sector becomes necessary. Their paper examines the myriads of problems militating against the effective management of the Nigeria university education system. These include: financial crisis, poor infrastructure, brain-drain, erosion of university autonomy, graduate unemployment, volatile and militant students' unionism, secret cults, examination malpractices and sexual harassment. Therefore, it is recommended that government should re-address the issue of funding of university, review upward the pay-package of academics, grant the university autonomy and make plans and projections on the nation's manpower needs in a bid to integrate this into the university programmes. (22) Submits that access to university education in Nigeria has become a serious issue due to sector's inability to provide an equal access to students that result in lowering the rate of student enrolment in higher education. (22)'s paper examines the issues entailing the education sector of Nigeria and inhibiting the process of providing equal access to university education. The research investigation shows that Nigerian Education sector is facing multiple issues related to administrative, social and infrastructural domains, few of the issues are, limited carrying capacity, quota system, inadequate fund, poor economic background of students, and absence of technology. To address these issues research recommends that introducing eLearning will enhance student's access to education and its cost effectiveness will equally bring access to economically or culturally restricted sector of Nigerian populace. ELearning is the most effective response to current educational access challenges and should be immediately pursued to achieve the positive outcomes in enhancing equal access to universities. (23) Observes in their study that a look at Nigeria's national policy on education on tertiary or higher education reveals a startling chasm of gap between the goals of the policy through General Studies Programme and their expected actualizations. This problem, that is, the chasm of gap, is owned to the maladministration and immoral conducts of the people to whom the students are under their influence directly or indirectly. It is the effects of these chasms of gap that have resulted largely in unemployable youths in Nigeria's labour market per se, youth's restiveness and so many other ills that go with it. In this study, through the philosophical method of critical analysis, the researchers are poised to offer competent administration born of patriotism and good moral conducts on the part of higher institutions' hierarchies as valuable ideas that will bridge the existing gap between the goals of the policy and their expected actualizations, and as such, yield the desired results. e-ISSN : 2620 3502 p-ISSN : 2615 3785 Volume 3, Issue VI, June 2020 | (24) Did a study to determine the relationship between monitoring and evaluation (M&E) practices and academic staff motivation in higher education, from a Rwandan perspective. Particularly, the study aimed at describing the M&E practices applied, assessed how quality of feedback affects academic staff motivation, and determined the relationship between M&E practices and academic staff motivation. The study employed a mixed-methods approach to collect data from academic staff. A total of 105 faculties were sampled. The study established that M&E practices, including staff self-evaluation, students-staff evaluation, peer evaluation, and evaluation by supervisor, are applied at varying emphasis. Furthermore, both the supervisees and supervisors agreed that the quality of feedback provided during evaluation is fairly effective, although recognition of their performance is rarely appreciated. It was further established that weak to moderate correlations exist between M&E practices and academic staff motivation with "r" varying from 0.268 to 0.4460. Although some indications for the direction of influence have been generated, the study, however, does not permit one-way final conclusion about the effect of any of the M&E practices to academic staff motivation. Based on the findings, this study recommends that policy makers design a policy on M&E, which would guide supervisors in M&E exercise. It is obvious from the above literature reviewed on higher education that there is a research gap on planning of higher education. In order to cover this research gap, this study is aimed to investigate the challenges facing planning of higher institutions in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study is to investigate the challenges facing planning of higher institutions in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Specific objectives are to: 1. To establish if there are challenges facing planning of higher education. 2. To find out the challenges facing the planning of higher education.

Research Question
The following research question where generated to guide this study: 1. Are there challenges facing planning of higher education? 2. What are the challenges facing planning of higher education?

Research Hypothesis
Based on the research questions raised, the following hypothesis were developed to give direction to the study. 1. There is no significant relationship between challenges and planning of higher education.

METHODOLOGY
The empirical data for the study were collected through questionnaires. The study population covers educational planners in various agencies and ministry of education in Abuja. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were adopted in selecting participants for this study. Purposive in the sense that only educational planners in charge of higher education were used and convenience in the sense that educational planner in different offices who created time in responding to the questionnaires in Abuja were used. The research instrument was divided into two sections, the first tends to obtain the respondent bio-data while the second part contains the items regarding the constructs of the subject matter and this was based on a four-point Likert scale ( 4-Strongly Agreed, 3-Agree, 2-Strongly Disagree, 1-Disagree) that best describes the extent to which the respondents agree with each items in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated by two lecturers from University of Abuja department of educational administration. Two research questions and one hypothesis were developed for the study. Test-retest reliability was employed for the study. The methods that were used to analyze the data in this work was descriptive methods of analysis. The opinions of the respondents on each question are weighed using simple percentage. This is done so as to ascertain the average opinion of the respondents. A total of 60 questionnaires were administered within the scope of selected location, having sorted the returned questionnaires, the final valid sample size for the analysis was 60.

RESULT ANALYSIS
Research Question one: Are there challenges facing planning of higher education? On weather if political influences is a problem, result collected from research question two table two item one showed that 32(32%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 41(41%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 17(17%) disagreed and 10(10%) strongly disagreed that political influence is one of challenges facing planning of higher education. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that political influence is one of challenges facing planning of higher education. To find out if political instability is a problem, Result on two table two item two showed that 37(37%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 33(33%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 8(18%) disagreed and 12(12%) strongly disagreed that political instability is one of challenges facing planning of higher education. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that political instability is one of challenges facing planning of higher education. Result from research question two table two item three showed that 51(51%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 31(31%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 12(12%) disagreed and 6(6%) strongly disagreed that inadequate data is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that inadequate data is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. Result from research question two table two item four showed that 36(36%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 28(28%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 24(24%) disagreed and 12(12%) strongly disagreed that inadequate fund to plan is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that inadequate fund to plan is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. Result from research question two table two item five showed that 45(45%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 35(35%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 12(12%) disagreed and 8(8%) strongly disagreed that pressure group is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that pressure group is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions.
Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed showed that 47(47%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 31(31%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 13(13%) disagreed and 9(9%) strongly disagreed that inadequate planning is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that inadequate planning is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed showed that 42(42%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 38(38%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 14(14%) disagreed and 6(6%) strongly disagreed that poor capacity of planner is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that poor capacity of planner is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. Hypothesis Testing H0 There is no significant relationship between planning of higher institutions and challenges. H2 There is significant relationship between planning of higher institutions and challenges. The table above showed that the r calculated is 0.197, which is greater than the t calculated of value 0.156. This means that there is significant relationship between planning of higher institutions and challenges.

Result Analysis and Discussion
In regard of if there are challenges facing planning of higher institutions. The result collected showed that 41(41%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 37(37%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 12(12%) disagreed and 10(10%) strongly disagreed that there are challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that there are challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This result is in agreement with Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed that 32(32%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 41(41%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 17(17%) disagreed and 10(10%) strongly disagreed that political influence is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that political influence is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This result supported the finding of (20) who disclosed that the existing political arrangement has influenced the control over educational planning in Nigeria. Political instability have had its toll on educational programmes. Planning process started by one administration is brutally interrupted by the next and the differences between federal and state government education policies are quite challenging. The inability of the Nigerian political structure does not allow for education planners to be accountable for their wrong doings. Result from research question two table two item two showed that 37(37%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 33(33%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 8(18%) disagreed and 12(12%) strongly disagreed that political instability is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that political instability is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. (25) Identified politics as having tremendous influence on Universities in Nigeria. This could be as a result of political Instability particularly during the Military era. The Nigerian society is made up of different political parties. At any time in point that a political party comes to power, it tries to keep to its own agenda or campaign promises. Hence, the ruling party tends to lack the political will to fund, carry out the programme of activities outside its agenda and therefore no continuity. Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed showed that 51(51%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 31(31%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 12(12%) disagreed and 6(6%) strongly disagreed that inadequate data is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that inadequate data is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. (6) Observes that any analysis of the Nigerian education sector is particularly challenging due to the lack of adequate data. Most of the literature available only provides information up to the midnineties. Data available was primarily for the eighties or early nineties. Data on the education system have not been collected in a timely manner or e-ISSN : 2620 3502 p-ISSN : 2615 3785 Volume 3, Issue VI, June 2020 | processed in a way that is adequate for planning. The system has thus suffered from lack of adequate planning for the implementation of the policies that are vital to improved quality and expansion. Result from research question two table two item four showed that 36(36%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 28(28%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 24(24%) disagreed and 12(12%) strongly disagreed that inadequate fund to plan is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that inadequate fund to plan is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. (16) Submits that planning budget or funds allocated for planning programme in Nigeria have been low for some years now. The budgetary allocations that get to the agencies and ministries for planning is nothing to write home about. (20) Opines that funds provide for education planning is too small for proper planning to take place. The condition of the sector remains a thing of concern. Under-funding and systemic corruption makes the matter worse. The insufficient funding of the education planning sector stands as one of the major factors working against effective planning and implementation of education programmes. Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed showed that 45(45%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 35(35%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 12(12%) disagreed and 8(8%) strongly disagreed that pressure group is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that pressure group is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed showed that 47(47%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 31(31%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 13(13%) disagreed and 9(9%) strongly disagreed that inadequate planning is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that inadequate planning is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. (20) Observes that there is a popular saying that "he or she who has failed to plan has planned to fail". Education planning in Nigeria has always been inadequate in line with the enormous facing our educational system. The lack of effective planning poses a significant obstacle to the advancement of education across the country. The success of any educational system hinges on proper planning. Planning of human and material resources has evolved to guide the allocation and utilisation of educational resources in the school systems. Such planning is required to arrest areas of wasted resources and to make educational production more successful. Consequently, for any educational system to truly develop, effective planning is indispensable as education and planning are essential characteristics for effective education (26). Concerning challenges facing planning of planning of higher institutions, the result collected revealed showed that 42(42%) of the respondents strongly agreed, 38(38%) of the sampled respondents agreed while 14(14%) disagreed and 6(6%) strongly disagreed that poor capacity of planner is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. This implies that the majorities of the respondents agreed that poor capacity of planner is one of challenges facing planning of higher institutions. (20) Submits that most educational planners in Nigerian do not have complete competence in planning. Qualified planners are the single most significant resource that can lead to greater and efficient planning productivity and performance. In planning, what is needed is the effective utilisation resources by connecting the totality knowledge, skills and talents to achieve planning objectives. The quality of planners should not be nothing less than the basic acceptable standards worldwide.

Conclusion/Recommendation
This study is aimed to investigate the challenges facing planning of higher institutions in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Specific objectives are to: 1. To establish if there are challenges facing planning of higher education 2. To find out the challenges facing the planning of higher education Result collected and analyzed revealed that there is significant relationship between planning of higher education and challenges. This result also showed that political influence, political instability, inadequate data, inadequate fund to plan, pressure group, inadequate planning and poor capacity of planner are the challenges facing the planning of higher education.

Recommendation
Base on the findings, the following were recommended: = The government should increase the budgetary allocation for educational planning in the country. = The politicians should allow planners do their work objectives and should not influence their planning. = Successful government in power should imbibe the political will of continue the former administration educational plan = The government should restructure the various agencies saddled with the responsibilities of data generation and management in the country so that creditable data/information will be made available for planning. e-ISSN : 2620 3502 p-ISSN : 2615 3785 Volume 3, Issue VI, June 2020 | = The government should design a training programme for educational planners. This will help the planners to improve on their planning techniques and skills

Limitations
This research is only limited to F.C.T, Abuja, this limit it generalization. The study is also limited because this area of research is new there is no secondary data.

Data Availability
All data generated and analyzed are available in this paper

Conflicts of Interest
The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.