Abstract
Many scholars and entrepreneurs have expressed concern about the attitude of Nigerians to work. Sometimes it is difficult to associate the need of the Nigerian worker with motivational theories because it is argued that it appears as if the Nigerian worker is unresponsive to motivation. This study investigates what motivates a Nigerian worker in order to establish whether his/her preferences are different from those of his/her counterparts elsewhere.
The framework adopted for this study is both descriptive and analytical. The population consists of 620 respondents in 15 Nigerian universities and polytechnics. A response rate of 477 representing 76.9% was recorded.
The results indicate that workers in academic libraries in Nigeria respond positively to monetary rewards as incentive to improved job attitude and work performance. It was also found that other factors outside their work environment also affect the level of their job satisfaction.