Statement of the problem
Every organization is established with the sole aim of achieving specified goals and objectives. Besides setting up such an organization, the purpose will be futile if ineffective and incompetent hands are made to run the operations of such organizations. Principals’ as transformational leaders in the school system are seen as drivers of the vision and mission statement for the achievement of the desired goals and objectives. For this reason, it is imperative that they must be properly oriented and reoriented for the effective discharge of their responsibilities in this regard.Observation by the researcher indicates that some public secondary school principals in AkwaIbom have been found to neglect their statutory functions as heads in such areas as absenteeism without prior information, lateness to school, and non-compliance with government policies amongst others. Due to the principals’ ineffectiveness, these ill-acts have also manifested in teachers inefficiency, poor communication skill, indiscipline among students and staff, poor maintenance culture on school facilities, poor record keeping as well as haphazard decision-making. These problems have bedeviled the various educational reforms injected by the government to progress the educational system. It is also characterized by the fluctuation of performance of students in public examinations over the years. Consequently, serious debates have made headlines on why the persistent happenings.It is on this premise, that the study raised the question: what is the relationship between educational reforms and principals’ administrative effectiveness in AkwaIbom State, Nigeria?