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The origin of military barracks can be traced to the Roman period of dominance as a global military superpower. Military barracks as a temporary housing system served to separate soldiers from the civil population in order to enhance mobilization, discipline, training and espirit de corps. Today, military barracks have become permanent buildings for accommodation of both officers and soldiers with their families. Barracks are now home to thousands of people, and as such there are some basic infrastructures and utilities that are provided to ease the life of the occupants.
In the United States of America (USA) for example, barracks, known as military installations are important public assets. They are large and equipped with infrastructures such as highways, hospitals, railway systems, recreational facilities, and even industrial areas. These entire infrastructures serve the purpose of making the military installation a self-sustaining community in order to improve productivity of personnel. One of the major challenges of the USA is that of quartering its military over the years due to its large number.
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This has led to considerable amounts of funding, resources and technology being invested to overcome the challenge.
Europe as a continent has had a long history of using the barracks as a means of accommodating military personnel. After a period of time it was abandoned due to the high cost of maintaining them but it was then reintroduced when problems associated with billeting began to cause serious social problems in civil-military relations. More importantly, the movement from the use of mercenaries to professional standing armies, and the rise of conscription were factors that led to the development of barracks to housing military personnel.
In contemporary times, military barracks in Europe enjoy state-of-the-art facilities that contribute to the overall productivity of armies in countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands to mention a few.
In Africa, armies are faced with a different situation unlike their American and European counterparts where military barracks are well funded, maintained and prioritized. The military on the continent are faced with challenges of underfunding and neglect. Emphasis is not being paid to the proper maintenance of barracks, this has led to the low productivity of soldiers in most African countries. The quality of infrastructures and utilities such as electricity, roads, hospitals, recreational facilities, market, living spaces, and office buildings in the barracks in some African countries is a direct challenge to the productivity of the personnel.
Provision and maintenance of barracks accommodation for the Nigerian Army (NA) today dates back to the colonial era. Barracks kept evolving and developing as the strength of the NA increased. Some basic facilities were introduced to some barracks to make life comfortable for troops and their families. Facilities and utilities like roads hospitals, electricity and water among others. The Nigerian civil war saw the rapid expansion of the NA in terms personnel, as such after the civil war, the then military government of Yakubu Gowon sought to build barracks for a large NA where personnel can work and live. Barracks were designed, built and maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.
During this period, it was easy for the PWD to effectively manage these assets probably because of their limited number. After the Nigerian Civil War certain factors, such as changes in the structure of the NA and rapid urbanization, necessitated the expansion of the NA barracks. Currently, the NA has well over 50 developed/undeveloped barracks across the country which Shadawanka Barracks is one. Over the years, the strength of the NA personnel has increased significantly without commensurate increase in barracks accommodation and maintenance. This has resulted in NA personnel being poorly accommodated and this affects productivity.
The NA is solely responsible for the provision of infrastructural facilities and utilities in all barracks through Nigerian Army Corps of Engineers. The facilities and utilities include houses, access roads, drainage, waste disposal, electricity and water to mention a few. This is done in order to improve personnel productivity also to make soldiers and their families comfortable. However, the facilities in the various barracks need constant maintenance to keep them in good shape and prolong their life span. Although the FG allocates funds to the NA for the maintenance of these facilities, they seem to be inadequate.
The term barracks maintenance is just the keeping of structures, utilities and facilities working so that the persons living within the barracks can enjoy them. While the improved productivity of personnel is the output that a personnel is to put out due to some factors that are influencing the personnel. Shadawanka barracks was built between 1975 - 1976, it is situated along Road Jos - Bauchi, the barracks houses over 650 personnel and their families. This huge number of personnel puts a huge pressure on the facilities and utilities in barracks. The decline in the maintenance of public facilities has become a major problem in Shadawanka barracks. A better approach to barrack maintenance is needed, as such putting in place mechanisms for achieving a sustainable barracks maintenance in order for personnel to be most productive.
The purpose of this study is therefore, to examine how barrack maintenance would improve productivity of NA personnel in Shadawanka Barracks and make recommendations as such. The study will consider the issues and challenges with barracks maintenance and how it affects productivity of personnel in Shadawanka Barracks. Furthermore, workable strategies to improve personnel productivity through barrack maintenance will be proffered. The dwindling productivity of personnel of Shadawanka barracks towards work, citing lack or no basic amenities to inspire them furthermore, there is the desire to address the gap in barrack maintenance as it affects productivity in the NA and Nigeria at large motivated the researcher to carry out the study.
A well-maintained barracks is a pride of any personnel serving therein, it affords him the ability to solve all his basic needs within his immediate environment. In an ideal barracks there would be very good road network, functional hospital, good water supply, electricity, recreational centers, market, and properly maintained structures to mention a few. However, in Shadawanka barracks the state of the barracks leaves much to be desired. The road network is fraught with potholes , the Brigade medical center relevant equipment to carry out minor operations forcing personnel to go as far as the Nigerian Air Force hospitals some 18 kms away. Furthermore, most of the roof of buildings have been blown away during a heavy rainfall in 2018. These challenges force personnel to resort to self-help remedies in order to compliment. This takes a huge toll on productivity because personnel spend more time thinking about how to solve their immediate and longtime problems the job.
The study, therefore seeks to establish the extent of the issues raised and its implication on Shadawanka barracks. The study further seeks to provide answers to the following questions:
The main objective of this study is to assess barracks maintenance and its impact on productivity of NA personnel. However, the specific objectives are to:
This study would be beneficial to the NA in articulating, formulating and implementing policies geared towards barracks maintenance for improved productivity of NA personnel. Precisely, the outcome of the study could assist the Nigerian Army Engineers and Department of Army Logistics to develop policies for effective barracks maintenance for improved productivity of NA personnel. The study would also contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the subject matter in the NA and the Armed Forces of Nigeria at large. It would equally benefit students and researchers to who may wish to conduct further research work relating to barrack maintenance and its effects on personnel productivity.
The study focuses on barracks maintenance for improved productivity of NA personnel. The study will be defined by time, space and content boundaries. These are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.
The study was affected by a number of limitations such as funding and time constraints. This affected the research by way of ample time to conduct the research. The study was also limited by the relevance of statistical information provided to the researcher. Many of the respondents that completed copies of the survey questionnaire and participants in the interviews relied what they are experiencing for information, which may not be completely reliable. Though there are some published resources materials on barracks maintenance, documentation on how it affects productivity of NA personnel in Shadawanka barracks is lacking. These however, did not in any way diminish the quality of the study. The researcher endeavored to collect information from primary and secondary sources and verify them before arriving at a conclusion for the study.
The key variables in the study are barracks maintenance which is the independent variable and improved productivity which is the dependent variable. These variables will be conceptualized and their relationships will be established.
Barracks Maintenance. The term barracks was defined originally by John Quick as temporary hut made from branches or trees for sheltering soldiers.4 He later referred to barracks as temporary structures for short occupancy, as during a siege. In recent times, he defined barracks as a building or set of buildings for lodging soldiers. The Admiralty Manual of Seamanship, Book of Reference (BR) 67 defined Barracks Maintenance as: 'the use of any or all the resources required to guarantee or re-establish a specified material condition or level of performance of barrack facilities'.7 This definition focused on the whole range of activities to maintain the designed performance of barracks and her equipment throughout her service life. Olumide (2016) however defines Barracks Maintenance as the process of keeping the barracks and the barrack facilities in a desired standard through routine checks, repairs and reinstallation.8 This definition addresses maintenance of the barrack and all associated facilities as well as the method to be adopted for the maintenance. Therefore, this definition is adopted in the context of this research study.
Further to the above definitions, the Committee on Building Maintenance defined Barracks Maintenance as the work undertaken in order to keep, restore or improve every facility in the barrack.9 This definition shows that maintenance involved ensuring the serviceability of equipment, machine and facilities throughout their useful lives. 10 Synthesizing from the above definition, Barracks Maintenance could be defined as the activities and processes undertaken by professionals to keep restore or improve barrack facilities as well as its surrounding to an acceptable standard. This definition will be adopted for the current study as it addresses all activities and process involved in the maintenance activities in order to restore equipment, building or components in its standard operational state.
Military Barracks. (2019, Dec 10). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/military-barracks-essay
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