___________________________
PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH
ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH
IN NIGERIA
By
ADEGUN, Olumuyiwa Bayode
ARC/00/4946
RESEARCH METHODS IN ARCHITECTURE
(ARC 805) TERM PAPER
MARCH 2009
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
Abstract
Research as an activity that work towards solution to problems in the environment
have become an indispensable aspect in the press for overall development. In the
field of architecture in Nigeria, it has gained significant attention in the recent past
as architects of all persuasions and the entire society have come to realize its
relevance. However, a number of problems militate against worthwhile
achievement in this area. The traditional architectural education system, funding,
weak research-industry collaboration, facilities and equipment shortage, human
resources, motivation and incentives was enunciated as the associated problems. A
number of recommendations were made while the place of integrating research and
design was highlighted.
Keyword: research, architecture research, University research, problems, Nigeria
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
1.0 What is Research?
The process of arriving at dependable solutions to problems through the
planned and systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data is known as
research, (Mouly, 1978). Research is also expressed as a systematic search and
investigation for increasing the sum of knowledge, or its extended version, research
and development (R&D), which means the search and application of this knowledge
for development of new and improved products, services and industrial processes of
capital development (Bako, 2005). Research is therefore germane to man’s overall
progress.
2.0 Research in Nigeria and the Architecture Context
Applied research has actually been on in Nigeria for close to a century now. The
British colonial government developed an implicit Science and technology policy to
support and guarantee the production and supply of export crops. In the early 1920s, this
led to the establishment of agricultural research stations at Moor Plantation, Ibadan,
Umudike, Umuahia, Samaru, and Zaria. In the 1940s, the British colonialists also set up
several West African research institutes for its colonies on the west coast. Since then,
more than twenty-six research institutes on various fields of specialization have been
established in Nigeria. With the establishment of the first Nigerian university in 1948 and
the first school of architecture in 1952, university-based research entered the scene and
about the last six decades the number of universities in the country has increased while
research activities have been domiciled in the universities and the research institutes.
Hence, architectural research as would be dealt with in this paper would relate to much of
what goes on in these institutions.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
When there is a fundamental questioning and/or analysis on the constitutive
structure of the domains in the field of existing knowledge; and people begin to
think in new ways, then architectural research may be said to have begun. It entails
investigation into what building and dwelling objectively is in its widest sense and
in relation to man. It was opined by Olotuah (2001) as a crucial aspect of the pursuit
of the architect-teacher and such is conducted to enhance the discipline of study.
The diversity of clients, buildings and users group suggest that new conditions hitherto
unknown to the profession: indicating that stock experience will not be sufficient to
answer the questions raised by these new environment and people as noted by Mgbemena
(2007) underscores the necessity for research in architecture.
There is a vast field to foray. The need to find methods of reducing energy
consumption in buildings thereby increasing comfort and economy is an important
area in which architectural research could contribute directly to design. Exploring
knowledge and understanding on aesthetics and structure of the built environment
and urban space in its historical, cultural and anthropological dimension and as a
metalinguistic domain is also possible. The impact that buildings can have on
physical health is another area in which architectural research can affect design. The
onus on architectural researchers also extends to the assessment of the possible
effect of research performed by and for other professions on the human
environment, synthesizing the rapidly accumulating scientific information into a
form useful for applied design.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
3.0 Challenges to Research in Architecture in Nigeria
Worthwhile research in architecture has been hampered in Nigeria by a
number of factors.
3.1 The Traditional Architectural Education System
One reason for the apathy displayed by many architects toward research may be
attributed to traditional educational patterns that do little to create an environment
attractive to research oriented students. By emphasizing intuitive design methods while
de-emphasizing academic thought and values, the traditional architectural educational
system encumbers research without really meaning to do so. The profession has over the
years attached status to practitioners and conferred only limited recognition for academic
and research pursuits, (Sterling, 2009). Of a fact Broadbent (1988) stated that there has
been no real tradition of architectural research. Apart from certain aspects of history- it
has been common to bring in researchers from other fields outside architecture,
sociologists, psychologists and so on who bring their established methodologies,
disciplines and ideas. There was no intention certainly at solving the architect’s practical
problem; which has had its negative consequences on research-led developments in the
profession of architecture.
The schools of architecture have been practice oriented in its pedagogical content
and as such promising researchers have in turn been attracted to other disciplines.
Furthermore, the establishment of higher education by the British Colonial
Administration in Nigeria was based on more teaching and less research paradigm which
influenced generations in the architectural education system. The development of
architecture as an academic discipline has been occasioned by the increase in ability of
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
the schools of architecture to conduct research albeit this ability is smaller when
compared to other disciplines, (Lyndon, 1977).
3.2 Weak Research-Industry Collaboration
If the link between theoreticians and practitioners was fostered better, research
solutions would have for long emerged to the quibbles in the architectural profession. It is
believed that fruitfulness of any research on the human environment would be predicated
on continuous feedback which is also possible with a cooperative collaboration between
researchers and professionals who often utilize such research products.
3. 3 Paucity of Research funds.
This is the leading factor hampering research and development for all field in
Nigeria, architecture inclusive. Fiscal resources needed to fund and sustain research
endeavours are meager and where allocations for such are made and available they are
often misappropriated. For the last one and a half decades, Nigerian universities
expended over 98% of their recurrent expenditure on paying salaries and allowances and
2% on maintaining services, with zero allocation for research. While of the total fund
budgeted for research between 1999 and 2000, less than 20% were actually allocated to
the NUC by Government, and out of these, less than 50% was actually allocated to the
universities, and out of this allocation less than 3% of the money was utilized for
research. Research activities over the years have been self-funded, that is, the money
spent comes from parents and the meager salary/income of the researchers (graduate
students, staff-in-training or academic staff). This is a fiscal cranium where research can
never thrive and overall development will be stifled.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
Table 1: Research Grant Allocation and Releases from 1990- 2003.
S/N
Year of
Release
Allocation
Amount Released
1
1990
24,000,000.00
22,075,371.00
2
1991
51,266,530.00
16,645,034.00
3
1992
14,500,090.00
17,472,972.00
4
1993
122,182,102.00
122,182,102.00
5
1994
132,213,817.00
98,662,255.00
6
1995
155,534,575.00
73,973,806.00
7
1996
153,842,000.00
50,583,686.00
8
1997
194,013,732.00
122,020,447.00
1998
215,618,453.00
149,993,549.60
9
1999
302,735,543.00
183,501,468.00
10
2000
448,127,780.00
612,666,910.00
11
2001
206,410,910.00
206,410,619.00’
12
2002
Not available
Not available
13
2003
73,435,618.00
73,435,618.72
Total
2,146,657,150.00 1,799,637,713.32
Source: Okebukola P. (2004)
Oppurtunites to source for and secure funds from outside the country are
available. However, some of such openings are insincere in goal, as they are greek gifts
having unwholesome impact on the progress of the nation and adducing to neocolonialism, brain drain, cultural displacement, capital flight and so on.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
3.4 Constraint of Infrastructure/equipment for worthwhile research.
Facilities pertinent to meaningful research activities are lacking or absent in the
various institutions entrusted with responsibility for architectural research. There is a
wide digital divide in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) between
Nigeria and the developed countries of the world which constitutes a setback developing
cutting edges technological solutions in the country.
The Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) after an equipment audit it
conducted revealed that teaching and research equipment are in the advanced state of
decay or are in severe insufficiency in the Universities which are meant to be flagship for
research in all the disciplines. Over 70 percent of the laboratory equipment and library
books were said to have been bought and placed between 1960s and 1980, (Okebukola p.
2004).
3.5 Inadequacy in Human Resource
It is admitted that human resources to conduct research in field of architecture and the
built environment are still present in the Universities and research institutes in the
country but their capacity in terms of competence, commitment and population is
inadequate. No thanks to the excessive and ongoing brain drain. The places are stocked
with few hands for the daunting environmental challenges.
Major collaborative research groups (consisting of a lead scientist, postdoctoral
fellows, and doctoral and other graduate students) like those found in the developed
countries generally do not exist in the Nigerian university system. Most
scientists/researchers work alone on their research projects in the universities while in a
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
few cases, they are assisted by their graduate students. Only occasionally are projects
executed in collaboration with other scientists. The few cases commonly emerge "from
accidental convergence of individual lines of research rather than as a result of a planned
attack on a major scientific problem" (Alo, 1995). The exceptions even do not usually
stay together long.
3.6 Diminishing Scope of mentoring junior researchers by seasoned and senior
researchers
Mentoring as a means of sustainability and continuity in the research thrusts in the
profession has been underexplored. Despite the fact that mentoring field affords the
opportunity for transfer of skills which protégés can apply in diverse professional
circumstances, promotes productive use of knowledge, clarity of goals and roles, career
growth and success, job satisfaction (Burke, Mckeen & McKenna, 1994), It is still largely
unsed in the Nigerian architectural research context. Okurame (2008)‘s survey on
mentoring in the members of a Nigerian university faculty revealed that the few existing
mentoring relationships are informal and were developed on the basis of similarity of
research
interests,
initial
delegation
of
work
activity,
the
delegation
of
conference/workshop attendance by mentor to protégés, inclusion in research projects
and supervision of the protégé’s thesis.
The unresponsive attitude of junior academics/researchers, the pressure of administrative
duties on the senior experienced researchers, formal mentor/protégé structures are common
barriers to mentoring which has beared negatively on sustainable and productive research
endeavour that proffers cutting edge technological solutions to the question in the architectural
profession.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
3.7 Motivation and Incentives for Researchers
One major factor affecting research output in the fields of science and technology,
architecture inclusive is the poor reward system for researchers. Some breakthrough
research it was said have been nearly swept under the carpet or at best poorly received for
policy input; the researcher would obviously be discouraged and this sends the wrong
signals to other aspiring researchers. Even when such researchers are under paid
employement as it is in the universities and public research institutes the motivation is
merely for promotion and other pecuniary gains. Alo far back in 1995 stated university
research seems to be conducted mostly to earn promotions, hence most of the researches
are for the aspiring and relatively new PhD work— the older professors, unfortunately,
seem overwhelmed by the constraints of teaching or are inundated with administrative
chores that allow them very little time for research.
3.8 Lack of research skills in the modern methods.
Traditionally, methods refer to the techniques associated with the positivistic
method- eliciting resources to predetermined questions, recording measurements,
describing phenomenon and performing experiment. The appropriateness of method is
architectural research cannot be dispensed with as this affects the overall outcome of a
research endeavour. Distance from the trend of methods in use and unavailability of
current skills used in research has been a setback in the Nigerian context. This more
pronounced as the half-life of cutting edge skills and technology is getting shorter in the
recent time.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
4. 0 Integrating Research and Design.
Integrating design, research and practice can be viewed as a new strategy for
achieving a productive dialogue about the visual environment (Sanoff, 1991). More so as
there is a growing dynamism and complexity in modern buildings, environment and
building codes and the society which the architect serves. The rationale for this new
paradigm extends beyond the architectural design field, but to the ubiquitous gulf
between academics and professionals, between theoreticians and practitioners, or
between researchers and designers, in all fields.
A model by which the results of research could be fed into design might be to
create a research/design group composed of practicing architects and, researchers,
professors, and students. The resources of the profession and schools/institutes where
research is domiciled are brought together and focused on research in real design
situation. By this all participating parties would benefit through the strengthened link
between education and practice (Sterling 2009), while the process as well as the product
can be studied and transformed.
5.0 Recommendations
Interest in architectural research must be stimulated early in the schools of
architecture, since it is at the university level that most professionals integrate their
identity within the characteristics of their chosen profession. Just as Olotuah (2001)
noted, that the schools of architecture should be much more involving as to advance the
profession of architecture through the generation of new knowledge, promotion of
academic excellence and the provision of research opportunities.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
There is an overarching need for a decisive shift in framework for the funding of
research. Public and private contribution should be clearly designated and earmarked in
terms of volume and investment capital. The state should earmark a definite percentage
of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), two percent, at least. Private enterprises and other
institutions that benefit directly or indirectly from architectural research products should
invest at least five percent of their profit in Research and Development within Nigerian
Universities and research institutes.
Conclusion
In the foregoing discussion, an attempt has been made to explain what research is
and certain position on research in architecture in the Nigeria context particularly in the
universities. The challenges that mitigate flourishing research and development in
architecture and built environment have been shown. With the purposeful response from
relevant stakeholders among other recommendations made with the strong place
integrating research and design, collaboration between theoreticians and practitioners
hold there is possibility for breakthrough cutting-edge research output and overall
development in architecture and all fields generally.
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PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA
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