Participation and Hindrances to Students’ Recreation at Selected Universities in Ondo State, Nigeria

: Recreation has several benefits, one of which is the health advantage that it brings to those who engage in it. Apart from being beneficial to health, one of the other benefits is in connection with good academic performance that it stimulates. This study focused on three selected public universities in Ondo State, Nigeria. It investigates the availability of recreational facilities, students' level of participation in recreational activities, and hindrances to students’ recreational participation in the selected universities. A purposive sample of 300 students was adopted and disaggregated into 106, 139 and 55 for the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), and Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (OSUSTECH) respectively, using the relative population of students in the three universities. Data acquisition instruments included a questionnaire, interview and observation. The questionnaire administration involved a multi-stage sampling procedure that cumulated in obtaining data from the final-year students of each university's faculties and departments. Findings revealed that students' participation in recreation was at low ebb in the three universities with varying degrees of hindrances to participation across the institutions. Poor or absent facilities were the most dominant hindrance to recreation. The worst case was in OSUSTECH where the school authority did not provide any recreational facility on campus. Recommendations include sensitization programmes to enlighten students on the need for recreation and the benefits of same to their health and educational pursuit; and upscaling of recreational facilities in the studied institutions.

gain, provides a way of managing the impacts of university life's pressures, and serves as an early preventive step against future chronic disease," in addition to the previously listed advantages (Miller et al., 2008).
Furthermore, engaging children in recreational activities minimize the key causes for students dropping out of schools, Such as a lack of fitness, a lack of social opportunities, and bullying. Recreational activities provide a number of benefits, including improved physical fitness and improved health and quality of life. They also aid in the maintenance of mental health and psychological well-being, contribute to the development of social skills, provide opportunities for meaningful (social) connection with others, aid in stress management, provide leadership and followership opportunities, and contribute to the development of character, selfconfidence, and a positive self-concept. This is not taking into account the supply of opportunities for achievement and success (Ajani, 2014). Recreation, according to Atare and Ekpu (2009), cannot be done in isolation without the use of amenities. Providing a variety of recreational facilities will help students to maintain a healthy balance by encouraging them to socially interact with other students who use the facilities, which will improve their emotional and psychological thinking as well as their self-esteem. This will also allow them to think productively and stay healthy.
The purpose of this study was to look at university students' recreational habits and associated hindrances and to give recommendations for improving students' recreational culture. This was to be achieved by identifying recreational facilities at three Universities in Ondo State, Nigeria; determining the extent to which students participate in recreational activities in the selected universities; and investigating the barriers or hindrances to students' engagement in recreational activities. This study will provide information to stakeholders and investors in the education sector with respect to common and available recreational facilities for university students in terms of quality and type and needs to be met. The information on various hindrances to recreation will also be useful to relevant stakeholders dealing with the holistic development of students in tertiary institutions. Furthermore, the study has great importance in the drive for self and talent discovery for professional sports career by many students and youths, who will further serve as human resources for developing the nation's sports industry.

Literature Review
Students' Level of Participation in Recreational Activities: Recreational awareness, according to Ekinci and Ozdilek (2019), is a notion that refers to people's awareness of the benefits of participating in recreational activities. In other words, they relate involvement to an understanding of the advantages of recreation. Physical activities stimulate social contact among students, build student confidence and selfawareness, considerably improve focus and learning, reduce feelings of sadness and anxiety, boost selfesteem, and improve the overall quality of life, according to The State of Queensland (2021). Furthermore, Eski et al. (2017) argue that students' optimal use of leisure time is important since it helps to prevent problems that influence their physical and mental health. Also, participation in leisure activities is an important aspect of university life as students who do not engage may face academic limitations. According to a study released by Soyer et al. (2019), students' restricted participation in leisure activities was due to a lack of time. Furthermore, free time is precious, which is exacerbated by the difficulty in making use of it. According to Eski et al. (2017), limited participation in leisure activities may be due to certain students' inability to manage their time well. There is also a scarcity of information on recreational alternatives for pupils.
Any child who engages in strenuous leisure activities throughout the school day is expected to improve his or her capacity to concentrate, recall, perceive, and attend to academic responsibilities considerably (Hyndman & Wyver, 2021). Despite broad knowledge of the advantages of leisure, many students continue to avoid it owing to a shortage of recreational facilities. According to certain studies, males are more active in recreational involvement, and participation reduces with age (Delaney, 2013), whereas another survey implies that everyone participates in at least one recreational activity. Furthermore, certain sporting activities are more popular among women (Webber & Meaman, 2005). This is in line with Kara and Demirci's (2010) definition of recreation, which holds that involvement in activities conducted for personal enjoyment, frequently to revitalize the mind and body, constitutes recreation. They also stated that people's level of participation in recreational activities is influenced by their proximity to recreational areas. Soccer, basketball, strolling, dancing, martial arts, athletics, tennis, gymnastics, exercise, swimming, aerobics, and running are all popular leisure activities among students. Nonetheless, as seen in Table 1, Pasli and Harbalioglu (2014) divided recreation into six categories, which comprise all aspects of an individual's daily life, including home, education, entertainment, tourism, and sports activities. Although recreational activities improve children intellectually, they are beneficial to everyone. While individual engagement differs, finding and committing to a suitable leisure activity is crucial for maximum benefit. Leisure tourism involves an overnight stay Longer distance travels, tours, weekend breaks, holidays and vacations Source: Adapted from (Pasli & Harbalioglu, 2014).

Obstacles to Students' Participation in Recreational Activities:
Recreation is time spent engaging in activities, whereas leisure time is unstructured time (Pasli & Harbalioglu, 2014). Music, camping, athletics, theatre, gaming, and social events are examples of recreational activities that may be done outside of one's home. Despite the availability of free time, leisure activities are restricted to a certain extent. Students are unable to fully participate in leisure activities due to personal preferences. Leisure hobbies have been studied by a number of academics. As Tolukan (2010) points out, many students face hardships in life. Girls tend to be more restrained than males while participating in leisure activities, according to Özşaker (2012), and the environment and its conduciveness have an impact on how well free time is spent. Pasli and Harbalioglu (2014) also stated that disparities in money and spare time determine whether or not students participate in recreation. However, Kilic (2013) stated that most students prioritize their schoolwork above recreational activities while in school. This is due to a lack of appropriate resources to handle both academics and recreation (Udokanma & Onwunaka, 2016).
Shyness, ability, and congestion of recreational facilities were also revealed as significant impediments to students' involvement (Jackson, 2009). According to Thomas et al. (2019), the lack of recreational resources on campus also affects students' participation. Numerous studies have proved the numerous benefits of leisure activities and suggested that people engage in 150 minutes of physical exercise each week on average (National Academy of Science, 2013). Despite the fact that recreational activities are promoted, females' involvement is limited due to religious restrictions and norms (Feizabad et al., 2012). Participation in recreational activities keeps students alert and, in turn, contributes to academic success. At higher education institutions, recreational activities have a substantial impact on student's academic progress. The pace at which a student can assimilate or concentrate on his work rises when the brain is relaxed and the body is revitalized, which is why recreational centres in educational institutions are crucial to students' wellness and performance, and this should always be seen as the primary reason for offering essential recreational facilities. According to Atare and Ekpu (2009), recreation cannot take place without the presence of facilities; consequently, if recreation is to influence attitudes and behaviour, school-based amenities are required. Ekanem (1995) claims that adequate facilities provide benefits such as increased interest in sports and recreation, making training pleasurable and simple, motivating participants and customers, and improving skill efficiency and process comprehension. Children, teenagers, adults, and criminal patients should all be served with the same facility. Services may be held in the apartments, on the grounds, or in the neighbourhood. In a recent study by Aksoy and Arslan (2019) on 497 students (248 men participating in and 249 men not participating in any recreational activities), statistically significant differences were found between the students participating in sportive recreation activity in the field and those who did not participate in any recreational activity. This was in terms of Individual Psychology, Social Environment, Service and Transportation, Lack of Time, Lack of Friends and Lack of Interest. The variables were based on the "Leisure Constraints Scale", which was developed by Alexandris and Carroll (1997) and was conducted in the study of the validity and reliability of Turkish Society by Karaküçük and Gürbüz (2007). The study analysed the normality hypothesis of the data using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. With all variables revealing normal distribution, parametric tests were applied to the independent variables related to the subproblems and the leisure time subscales. Independent T-test was used for paired comparisons and Pearson correlation was used for the relationship between variables to arrive at the conclusion.
In another study, Kozak and Doğantan (2016) carried out a study in Turkey to ascertain the likelihood of a student continuing to recreate after graduation. The primary objective was to obtain information on preferred recreation activity categories, recreation experiences, and the intent to continue these activities. A quantitative research approach was adopted, using a survey form on 268 students who were registered in student clubs at the university. Factor analysis, correlation, and regression analysis were used in the analysis of the survey data. Factor analysis was conducted on the "Recreation Experience Preferences" (REP) scale items. It was determined that the scale was structured in seven dimensions. The findings of the study determined that the students preferred social recreation activities the most, followed by cultural, artistic, and physical recreational activities. As such students' participation frequencies based on activity categories could be sorted as social, artistic, cultural, and physical, respectively. Also, as the students' participation frequency in recreation activities increased, the experiences acquired increased as well. It was therefore observed that as the frequency of participation in social, cultural, and artistic categories increased, the experiences in "learning about nature, culture and art" and "escape from personal-social pressures" increased accordingly. The purpose of this study is to examine students' recreational patterns in Nigeria using Ondo State public universities as a case study. It will help to ascertain if the causes impeding leisure activities among students at higher institutions are the same within and outside of Nigeria.

Study Area and Case Study:
Ondo State is located between latitudes 5 0 45' and 8 0 15'N and longitudes 4 0 20' and 6 0 00'E (Ondo State Bureau of Statistics, 2021). It has a border with the Edo, Delta, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, and Kogi states, as well as the Atlantic Ocean's Bight of Benin. The state has a population of 5,267,322 people and a land area of 14,788.723 square kilometres. The state is divided into eighteen (18) Local Government Areas, the capital city of which is Akure. The State is split into three Senatorial Districts, with each containing six Local Government Areas (LGAs). The Senatorial Districts are Ondo North (comprising Akoko North-East, Akoko North-West, Akoko South-East, Akoko South-West, Owo and Ose LGAs); Ondo Central (comprising Akure North, Akure South, Idanre, Ifedore, Ondo East, and Ondo West LGAs); and Ondo South (comprising Ese-Odo, Ilaje, Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo, Irele, Okitipupa, and Odigbo), according to (SituationRoom, 2021). Three public universities in Ondo state were selected for the study (one from each senatorial district). These are Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) within Akoko Southwest LGA in Ondo North Senatorial District; The Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) within Akure South LGA in Ondo Central Senatorial District; and Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa (OSUSTECH) within Okitipupa LGA in Ondo South Senatorial District. FUTA is a Federal Government institution while AAUA and OSUSTECH are Ondo State-owned institutions.

Figure 1: Ondo State Map Showing the 3 Senatorial Districts and Locations of the Selected Institutions
Source: Authors' adaption, 2019.

Methodology of Research
The study engaged a survey approach to collect data on the objectives of the study which are on the availability of recreational facilities in selected universities, students' level of involvement in recreational activities and hindrances to students' participation. Data were collected from students of selected universities using a structured close-ended questionnaire. The questionnaire was chosen as a data collection instrument due to its adaptability and capacity to give quantifiable data. Also, information was obtained from coaches of the institutions using an interview guide. Observation of available facilities was documented using photo cameras. Existing academic strata of faculties, departments and levels were involved in the selection of respondent students in a multi-stage sampling process. From each faculty/school, two departments were randomly selected; and the final-year students were equally randomly selected from each selected department for questionnaire administration. The reduced/disaggregated number of copies of the questionnaire were administered to randomly selected students on the final-year class list as obtained from the departments.
In the case of the Faculty of Agriculture in OSUSTECH which had only the Department of Fisheries, the respondent students were directly selected among the final-year students of the department. In all, 300 students were selected at random from the three selected universities across the three senatorial districts and the questionnaire was administered to them. A total of 106 students were selected from FUTA, 139 from AAUA, and 55 from OSUSTECH based on the relative student population of the universities. Secondary data were gathered from online and paper publications and documents relating to the recreational patterns of students and the availability of recreational facilities in higher institutions. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics was engaged with the use of a Table of frequencies in addition to Likert's scale for the development of the Participation Hindrance Index (PHI). The following faculties and departments make up the three universities as shown in Tables 2 to 4. The Federal University of Technology, Akure adopted the school system instead of the Faculty system, which is the case in the two other universities.

Results and Discussion
Respondents' Socio-Economic Profile: Findings on the socio-economic profile of the respondent students are summarised in Table 5. Male and female respondents were 55.7% and 44.3 % respectively in FUTA. This is likely to influence more active participation in recreation among the students since men like sports and other recreational activities that help them to improve their stature and physique. This is supported by Özşaker's (2012) argument that girls are more reserved than boys when it comes to leisure pursuits. Additionally, more than 77% of the respondent students fit into the adult age bracket (above 20 years of age going by the adopted calibration); resulting from targeting the final-year students for data gathering. With 16 years as a lower age limit for admission (coupled with delay in securing admission into the university by many students), this does not come as a surprise. There is much vigour and strength for participation in recreation at this stage of life and it is expected that the students would be highly involved in recreational activities, provided there are no other constraining factors. Though a reduced number of females are likely to be involved in recreation at any point in time, the youthfulness factor could be a greater motivation for recreation by this gender when compared with the older generation. Just 8.5% of the respondents were married at the time, which equally favours a greater involvement in recreation due to relative minimal activities and responsibilities when compared with married students. Also, final-year students with a 5-year programme were more in FUTA than those in a 4-year programme.
Furthermore, data obtained from AAUA showed that there was a slightly greater percentage of female students (56.1%) than male students (43.9%). As a conventional institution with courses of study cutting across all professional fields, the percentage of female students is expected to be higher when compared with a technology-based institution like FUTA. Also, similar to the case in FUTA, more than 77% of the students fell into the adult age category while 11.5% are married a slightly higher figure than obtained in FUTA. This slight increase might have resulted from the higher percentage of female respondents as it is common that women tend to marry at a younger age than men. A similar situation to that of FUTA was observed with the duration of programmes being studied though the percentage is slightly higher for 5-year programmes in FUTA. In OSUSTECH, 54.5% of respondents were male, while 45.5% were female. The dominance of males in a university of science and technology is reiterated in this scenario. Equally, the adult group still dominates the age distribution with more than 74% above age 20, due to the selection of final-year students as respondents for the study. All the respondent students of OSUSTECH were registered for a 5-year programme. The summary of the data shown above reveals that 55.7% of the respondents were male, while 44.3% were female. Seventy-seven per cent (77%) were in the adult group while 10.3% were married. A total of 88.3% were on a 5-year programme while the rest would round off after four years.

Availability, Condition and Use of Recreational Facilities:
Out of the three universities chosen, only two (FUTA and AAUA) had recreational facilities within the campus premises. OSUSTECH did not make provisions for on-campus recreational facilities. The facilities in Table 6 are the recreational facilities that were recorded in FUTA and AAUA. Some of the facilities are shown in Figures 2 to 7.  The interview conducted with the coaches at FUTA and AAUA provided some facts about the condition of the facilities and their use. It was reported that the facilities in both institutions were in good condition, but some of those in FUTA were not in use as they had been abandoned by students due to a lack of interest in using them. Also, the quality of the facilities in both institutions was rated 'average'. Access to the facilities is free except for the use of the Gymnasium in FUTA. Students' participation in recreational activities was viewed as moderate in both institutions. The university Authority in FUTA organises various athletic, football and basketball competitions while AAUA specifically organises Vice-Chancellor and Convocation games. The interview also revealed that some students' poor recreation habit in FUTA was influenced by the demanding academic schedule, clubbing, lack of knowledge about the importance of recreation and a nonchalant attitude. Enlightenment on the importance and value of recreation and the introduction of new and high-quality recreational facilities and competitions (with prizes) were suggested as measures for improving students' attitude to recreation. In AAUA, the major constraint to recreation was mentioned to be the busy academic schedule while the declaration of lecture-free days, which are dedicated to sports and recreational activities, was suggested to motivate students to recreate. It was equally mentioned that the provision of more accommodation facilities for students on campus would increase their interest in taking part in recreational activities as only female students were accommodated on campus.

Level of Participation in Recreational Activities:
The level of participation in recreational activities by students in each university is shown in Table 7. Participation was classified according to the frequency of utilization of facilities on campus and outside the campus. This was disaggregated into daily, bi-weekly, monthly, occasionally and never. In FUTA, 10.4% of the respondent students indicated that they were using school facilities on a daily basis while a meagre 1.9% indicated bi-weekly use. Also, 20.8% and 17.9% were utilizing the school's facilities monthly and occasionally respectively while the rest 49.1% never used the campus facilities. With respect to the use of facilities outside the campus, 62.3% of same respondents never used recreational facilities. Several students reside in proximal residential areas to FUTA but most of the facilities available on campus were not found in those areas. This definitely increased the percentage of those that were not engaged in the use of recreational facilities outside the campus. The other available facilities were used by 4.7% of the respondents on daily basis; very few 0.9% used them bi-weekly; while 5.7% engage on monthly basis and 26.4% occasionally. For AAUA, 8.6% of the respondent students were using the university facilities daily and 15.8% were using such facilities bi-weekly while 16.5% and 1.4% were making use of the campus facilities on monthly basis and occasionally. The non-users accounted for 57.6% of the respondents.
Off-campus facilities utilization attracted only 3.6% on daily basis, 0.7% uses them bi-weekly, 23.0% on monthly basis and 21.6% used them occasionally. 51.1% never used them. These findings have revealed that over half of the students were not actively involved in any form of recreation. Due to the fact that OSUSTECH is a relatively new institution that was established in September 2010 (compared with FUTA and AAUA which were established in 1981 and 1999 respectively), several amenities were lacking, including recreational facilities. As a result, the majority of students who were interested in recreation could only make use of the facilities located outside the campus. Just 5.5% of the respondent students were using off-campus facilities on daily basis (Table 7). The same percentage was involved with such external facilities monthly while about the same percentage (5.7%) were engaging in such use bi-weekly. Occasionally, about 19.7% used these facilities while 63.6% never utilized recreational facilities.
It is important to mention that one of the factors influencing the reduced percentage of students' involvement with off-campus recreational facilities is the cost involved in accessing those facilities where they are available, whether close to or distant from the university campuses. Students' thoughts about the cost of accessing the facilities include transportation costs to such facilities and payments to use the same facilities. This discourages most of them from using off-campus facilities. In the alternative, many students engage passively in other forms of recreation which do not require much financially outlay, bigger facilities or energy dissipation. It is also of note that a greater percentage of those who use the on-campus facilities actually reside on campus and will usually have time for recreation only on weekends due to academic demands during the week. This weekend recreation may also not be possible all the time due to the need to attend to academic assignments.

Hindrances to Recreation:
The frequencies of the responses of the sampled 300 students in the three Universities were collated and tabulated as revealed in Table 8 (arranged alphabetically) to generate a 5point Likert's scale that was based on their respective responses. Using the 5-point scale of strongly disagree, disagree, not sure, agree and strongly agree with values 1,2,3,4, and 5 attached respectively, a Participation Hindrance Index (PHI) Table was developed as shown in Table 9. The PHIs were generated from the sum of weighted values (SWVs) and the deviation of each PHI from the mean was equally generated. Furthermore, the variance and standard deviation were calculated for the values of the PHI. A ranking of the PHI based on deviations from the mean revealed that the highest PHI (and consequently the greatest hindrance to students' participation in recreation) was 'Poor Recreational facilities'. This implies that poor quality and quantity of facilities provided across the institutions constitute a very high hindrance to students' interest and actual participation in recreation during the session. The students believe that the quality of the facilities could be better and more could be provided especially in OSUSTECH where there are no facilities on campus. This was followed by 'Academic Engagement' which also implies that students are seriously engrossed in their academic activities, which they will prefer to spend more time on at the expense of recreation since it is their primary assignment in school. The least hindrance comes from the 'Health Challenge' which students did not consider a serious impediment to their recreation interest.  Where Variance = ∑ (PHI -Mean) 2 /8 = 3.7299/8 = 0.4662; Standard Deviation (SD) = √(0.4662) = 0.6828.

Conclusion and Recommendations
This paper highlights available recreational facilities in three selected public universities across the three senatorial districts of Ondo State, Nigeria and equally informs on the condition of available facilities. It further exposes the regularity of participation of students in recreational activities in these schools and pinpoints the various forms of a hindrance to students' recreation while the school is in session. The hindrances explored include natural reluctance, academic engagement, lack of motivation, financial constraints and health challenges. Others include poor recreational facilities, absence of recreational facilities and distance to available facilities. Based on the findings of the research from both the university sports coaches and the students, the following recommendations are germane. There is a need for university authorities to provide recreational facilities on campus where they are absent, while those with obsolete and insufficient facilities are admonished to upgrade to a high standard and improve on the available stock of facilities as the case may be.
campus. Furthermore, the provision of accommodation for students on campus will bring more students closer to the on-campus facilities, thereby encouraging them to use the facilities, especially on weekends. The universities should sustain participation in competitions with other institutions within the country. As much as possible, access to all facilities on campus should be free of charge to encourage the students to make use of such facilities. It is hoped that when the above-stated recommendations are implemented, the recreation culture of students on campuses will improve and their academic performance will equally improve as well as their health condition.