Effect of personal characteristics of extension managers and supervisors on information technology needs in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effect of personal characteristics of Extension managers and supervisors on their information technology needs in the Niger delta area of Nigeria. Data collection was with the aid of a structured questionnaire administered to 87 respondents in the study area. The z-test result showed that there is no significant difference in the Information Technology needs of both categories of respondents. Findings also revealed that number of associations belonged to, educational qualification, training, category of organization were the personal characteristics that significantly influenced information technologies needed by extension managers and supervisors. It is therefore recommended that training in various areas of Information Technology such as use of Internet, sending and receiving e-mails, surfing the web, using chat rooms, and newsgroups, should be enforced to further enhance the performance of extension managers in the discharge of their duties. This is to make the recipients ready to meet challenges in the contemporary global network of Information Technology. Extension Managers and Supervisors should be encouraged to belong to Professional Associations in their various disciplines. This should be made compulsory and possibly a condition for promotions so that it can be adhered to. Allowances should however be made available and regularly too, for such activities. Extension Managers and Supervisors should be given available opportunity to use and apply Information Technologies regularly. This will expose them significantly and encourage a fuse into the global community. Key words: Extension managers, supervisors, information technology needed INTRODUCTION Information is a necessary component of agricultural extension. Olowu and Yahaya (1998) observed that over the years, agricultural information experts have been trying to develop some framework or methodology upon which to effectively and precisely predict and analyze information needs. Agricultural extension organizations in Nigeria employ agents that will help to hasten the communication of information needs of farmers identified by Olowu and Yahaya (1998). The information needs arise in the technical, marketing, social and legal information areas. These are mostly delivered through various media such as television, radio, newspaper, bulletin, and pamphlets. But the limitations of these media in actually improving extension work are many. This incorporates the use of computers and other electronic equipments for efficient communication of agricultural information. These technologies apply scientific information to the end-users need. Information has been identified as one of the resources required for the improvement of agricultural production (Aina, 1995). It is said to be a resource that must be acquired and used in order to make an informed decision. Those who possess appropriate and timely information will make a more rational decision than those without. The various agricultural information users populations can be categorized as policy makers and planners; researchers; extension staff; educators and students; agro-based industries and services staff; and farmers. It was also observed that each of the sectors mentioned above contribute directly to the improvement of agriculture hence relevant information provided to each category of these user populations will contribute positively to the development of agriculture in Africa. Information is the potential ingredient for the advancement of agriculture. Without information the agricultural sector may degenerate into extinction. Information provides the basis for scientific innovations in agriculture. Agricultural information has been defined as all published or unpublished knowledge on all aspects of agriculture. The advent of the computer gave a new direction to the information and communication technology industry. This is evident in the use of technologies such as electronic mail (e-mail), electronic commerce (e-commerce) and more recently mobile phone, which Salihu (2000) referred to as Palm assistant, because of its palm-size nature. …