Lifelong Learning Culture and Organisational Performance in Nigerian Public Institutions

This study examines the relationship between organisational learning culture and performance outcomes in Nigerian public institutions, contributing to the limited African public sector evidence on the lifelong learning-performance nexus. Learning organisations, which actively foster employee learning, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement, are theorised to demonstrate superior performance relative to non-learning-oriented institutions. In the Nigerian public sector, where performance deficits are widely documented, fostering a lifelong learning culture has been proposed as a reform strategy. This study uses a survey design, collecting data from 280 employees and managers in public institutions including federal ministries, parastatals, and state agencies in Abuja, Lagos, and Rivers State. Organisational learning culture is measured using Marsick and Watkins' Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire adapted for the Nigerian context. Institutional performance is assessed using service delivery quality, innovation frequency, and employee productivity indicators. Structural equation modelling is employed. Findings reveal that continuous learning opportunity provision, team learning practices, and knowledge sharing systems are the learning culture dimensions most significantly associated with institutional performance. Leadership support for learning is identified as the critical enabler of all other learning culture dimensions. The study concludes that cultivating a lifelong learning culture in Nigerian public institutions produces measurable performance benefits. It recommends that the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation develop a Public Sector Learning Organization framework to guide institutional learning culture development across the federal bureaucracy.

Keywords: lifelong learning culture, organisational learning, public institutions, performance, Nigeria.