Revenue Potentials of Outsourcing of Event Facilities in Higher Institutions: Case Study of the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

University communities are expected to be of multiple activities, requiring the provision of facilities that are expected to service them. Facilities of all kinds are meant to be updated to meet the challenges of the time, thus facilities management as a practical activity, stand for the coordination of all efforts related to planning, designing and managing buildings and their systems, equipment and furniture to enhance an organization’s ability to compete successfully in rapidly changing world. Accordingly, most of the facilities attached to university communities were planned to serve one particular purpose or the other and are therefore reserved for specified purposes. With the ongoing decline in the funding of universities, particularly in Nigeria, there is a need for a gainful and commercialized management of these facilities, especially event facilities, through outsourced facilities management to enhance their ability to compete and attract patronage from within and outside the university community, with a view to augmenting government’s efforts through the creation of internally generated revenue. This study aims to examine the in-house facility management process and evaluated the necessity of outsourced commercialization of Event Facilities in the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. In-depth interviews sessions held with stake holders through Focus Groups meetings highlighted challenges created by the shortcomings of the regulated management system. The paper thus concludes by suggesting some recommendations that might be of help to overcome the identified challenges.