SOCIOECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF LEISURE PARTICIPATION OF HIGHER INSTITUTIONS WORKERS ON REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT AND URBAN PLANNING IN OFFA, KWARA STATE

Abstract

Institutional workers are characterized by structured employment systems, defined working hours, and professional hierarchies which may influence their participation in leisure activities. The study adopted descriptive survey research design to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of academic staff of three different institutions in Offa, Kwara State on leisure participation and inferred the implications for real estate investment and planning. The study adopted multistage sampling technique comprising purposive, stratified and simple random. The instrument of data collection was structured questionnaire on 5-point Likert scale. The reliability of the instrument was tested using a pilot survey of Thirty (30) staff with an index of 0.9 using Cochran method. A total of 274 questionnaires were administered on participants using simple random sampling technique and results analyzed using frequency tables and relative importance index. The result revealed (54.20%) participation and (45.80%) non-participation in leisure activities and participants prefer leisure facilities in close proximity to their abode. It was recommended among others that institutional authority, and government, should provide adequate incentives for workers to participate in leisure activities. The findings demonstrate that leisure participation is defined by socioeconomic characteristics of the workers in Offa. The study contributes to urban economics and real estate literature by providing empirical evidence from a semi-urban African settlement and offers policy-relevant insights for real estate investment and sustainable urban development in Nigeria.