ADMINISTRATIVE READINESS FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

This study investigated administrative readiness for the internationalization of public universities in Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and was conducted in nine public universities in South East Nigeria. The population comprised 85 Heads of Departments (HODs) from the Faculties of Education, with 73 correctly completed questionnaires returned, representing an 86% response rate. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire developed by the researcher. The questionnaire was validated by three experts. A pilot study was conducted on 10 HODs in public universities in South South, Nigeria. Test of reliability using Cronbach Alpha yielded reliability coefficients of 0.88 and 0.85 Clusters B1 and B2 respectively with an overall reliability of 0,87. Means and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions, and independent samples t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that both leadership commitment and resource allocation support the internationalization of university education in Nigeria to a high extent. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in respondents’ perceptions based on years of experience. The study concluded that administrative readiness, through committed leadership and strategic resource allocation, is crucial for enhancing the internationalization of Nigerian universities, and recommended strengthening leadership, resource planning, and institutional policies to sustain global engagement initiatives.