Metacognitive analysis of electronic technology use for human capital and lifelong learning in Nigerian tertiary institutions

Digital technologies have become pivotal enablers of educational transformation, yet their effective integration in developing-country higher education requires more than infrastructural access. This empirical study advances a triadic framework conceptualizing availability, utilization, and maintenance of innovative electronic technologies as complementary determinants of user satisfaction in tertiary institutions. Drawing on a cross-sectional survey of 5,052 respondents across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education in Southeast Nigeria, the research employed confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate measurement validity and estimate structural relationships. The model demonstrated excellent fit (χ²/df = 1.399; CFI = 0.999; TLI = 0.999; RMSEA = 0.009; SRMR = 0.010). Pooled regression results revealed that availability (β = 0.304, p < 0.001), utilization (β = 0.310, p < 0.001), and maintenance (β = 0.302, p < 0.001) jointly explained 28.5% of the variance in satisfaction (R² = 0.285). Multigroup analysis confirmed institutional moderation: availability exerted the strongest influence in universities (β = 0.381, R² = 0.342), utilization dominated in polytechnics (β = 0.328, R² = 0.248), while maintenance was most salient in colleges of education (β = 0.292, R² = 0.237). Supplementary qualitative data highlighted persistent constraints, including erratic electricity supply, inequitable device provision, reliance on personal computers, and weak maintenance systems. Findings substantiate the argument that ICT adoption in education is not a monolithic process but contextually differentiated by institutional type. The study advances ICT adoption models by embedding institutional context into a multidimensional framework and demonstrates that digital transformation in education is not monolithic but contextually differentiated. Practically, it provides evidence-based guidance: universities should prioritize infrastructure expansion, polytechnics should strengthen curriculum-embedded utilization, and colleges of education must institutionalize maintenance culture. Policy recommendations emphasize reliable energy, sustainable ICT budgeting, digital capacity building, and equity-focused interventions. Collectively, the findings illustrate that the transformation of tertiary education in developing contexts requires systematic, differentiated, andsustainable strategies to translate digital investment into meaningful educational outcomes and long-term human capital development and lifelong learning in Nigerian higher education.