Abstract

The study investigated the promotion of academic relationship leadership practice and productivity of lecturers in public universities in Delta and Edo states, Nigeria. Adopting an ex-post-facto design, it encompassed a population of 3,492 academic staff in four government-owned universities located in Delta and Edo States, Nigeria. A sample of 676 academic staff was selected through stratified random sampling techniques. The primary data collection instrument was a questionnaire with a high reliability coefficient of 0.97 achieved through the split-half method. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using correlation analysis. The findings revealed the existence of a positive and significant relationship between academic relationship leadership practice and the productivity of lecturers. Based on this result, the study recommended that academic leaders should create a friendly and warm environment that will engender and enhance the promotion of academic relationships to positively affect the productivity of academics.

Key words: Leadership, leadership practice, academic leadership, academic relationship, productivity, academic staff.