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AN ASSESSMENT OF MAINTENANCE CULTURE IN NIGERIA AIR FORCE PRINTING PRESSES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of the Study

The maintenance culture in Nigeria is nothing to write home about.  That is the reason why many factories collapse as a result of lack of preventive maintenance culture which leads to collapse of buildings, equipment’s, machines and the factory as a whole. Maintenance break down or preventive is very necessary for the continuing survival of a factory.  It is with good maintenance culture that appropriate sound and functional machinery, equipment and tools can be maintained which would facilitate continuing operation of and industry.  In a situation when parts are allowed to break down without replacement or servicing there would be system break-down which could lead to disruptions of production.  If equipment is not up to date and functional quality products and or services cannot be produced. In Nigeria, greed, non-challant attitude corruption and some other factors seriously impede maintenance culture and hence disruptions of production activities in factories.  When this occurs customers are not provided with choice and sometimes non-existence of the products or services is experienced.

Employees also suffer from the effects of non-maintenance culture in Nigeria.Infrastructural development is the basis and bedrock of any development effort in the world today. It is important to stress that, it is not enough for facilities of development to be put in place; it is more than enough for these facilities to be adequately and properly maintained so that the purpose for which they are meant would be accomplished. However, the attitude of people towards public facilities is that of government property that do not belong to anybody (Adeleye, 2009). To this extent facilities that were meant to benefit the masses are just rotting away, being wasted without being put to any good use as people are not interested in making such facilities sustainable. The result therefore, is that public facilities do not last long due to lack of maintenance. This shows that without a strong maintenance culture, infrastructural development will amount to nothing. The phrase maintenance culture could therefore be seen as an important one that should be defined to have a proper understanding of what it stands for in the process of sustainable development. 

Ajibola (2009) defines culture as “The shared belief and values of a group; the beliefs, customs, practices and social behavior of a particular nation or people”. He defined maintenance as “The work that is done regularly to keep a machine, building or a piece of equipment in good conditions”. He expatiated further that maintenance is a combination of actions carried out to retain an item in or to restore the item to an acceptable condition. When it comes to aircraft, the issue of age, you can think about it but again what you must focus on really is the serviceability.You could have an aircraft, maybe 52 years old. But it is still being effectively utilized for war. It’s your maintenance schedule. If you give it the best of maintenance, sometimes an aircraft that is even 20 years old may even be airworthier than the ones that are just about two years old.It depends on maintenance approach and the culture that you have been developed over the years.The role of aircraft maintenance, simply put, is to ensure that aircraft presented “on the line” for flight operations comply with: all legal requirements (e.g. continuing airworthiness requirements, airworthiness directives, certificate of release to service, type certificate and supplementary type certificate),operational equipage requirements (e.g. oxygen systems, first aid, and flotation devices), and appropriate equipment for the type of operation being flown (e.g. communication, navigation and surveillance).Furthermore, where maintenance is conducted under contract by a third-party maintenance and repair organization, each airline customer may have other specific requirements (e.g. additional safety features, technical solutions, and issues such as in-flight entertainment and seating aircraft discrepancy (physical degradation or failure) attributed to the actions of the aircraft maintenance technician”. Rankin (1997), in examining the experience of the Boeing organization, reports that improper maintenance contributes to 15 per cent of commercial jet accidents. Based on Boeing’s experience, Marx (1998) calculated that in the USA alone the number of commercial aircraft dispatched each year with a maintenance error is roughly 48,800. It is in this view the researcher want to assess the maintenance culture of Nigeria air force printing presses.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is with good maintenance culture that appropriate sound and functional machinery, equipment and tools can be maintained which would facilitate continuing operation of and industry.  In a situation when parts are allowed to break down without replacement or servicing there would be system collapse which could lead to disruptions of production. If you give it the best of maintenance, sometimes an aircraft that is even 20 years old may even be airworthier than the ones that are just about two years old.

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is an assessment of maintenance culture in Nigeria air force printing presses. But for the successful completion of the study; the researcher intends to achieve the following sub-objectives;

1.   To ascertain the effect of non-maintenance of Nigeria air force printing presses on the efficiency of the force.

2.   To assess the quality of  maintenance culture imbibe in Nigeria air force.

3.   To ascertain what causes non maintenance in Nigeria air force.

4.   To ascertain the relationship between maintenance culture in Nigeria air force and the efficiency of the printing press

1.4    RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;

Ho: There is no maintenance culture in Nigeria air force

H1: There is maintenance culture in Nigeria air force

H02: There is no significant relationship between maintenance culture in Nigeria air force and the efficiency of the printing press.

H2: There is a significant relationship between maintenance culture in Nigeria air force and the efficiency of the printing press

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of benefit to the ministry of aviation. It will help to know benefit of carrying out maintenance culture in Nigeria air force.The study will also be of great benefit to the researchers who intends to embark on research on similar topics as it will serve as a guide. Finally, the study will be of great importance to academia’s, lecturers, teachers, students and the general public.

1.6    SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers an assessment of maintenance culture in Nigeria air force printing presses.  The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;

a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study       

b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

ASSESSMENT: The action of assessing someone or something.

MAINTENANCE: The process of preserving a condition or situation or the state of being preserved.

MAINTENANCE CULTURE: Culture, on the other hand, is a way of life, a lifestyle, customs, traditions, habits that portray the attributes of a person/people. Maintenance culture is an attitude which is sadly lacking in Nigeria, whether in the home, office, school or factory.

AIRFORCE: An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare.

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows; Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.