IoD Nigeria as a force for good in corporate governance

The success and health of every nation rest on three critical pillars. The first is the public sector, whose role is to protect lives and properties, provide essential public services and create an enabling environment for economic and social progress. The second is the private sector, which, within an enabling environment, creates wealth, provides jobs and generates economic prosperity.

Then, there is the third, often called the Third Sector. It’s independent of, yet interfaces with, the public and private sectors. As a former president of the US Council on Foundations, Jim Joseph, put it, the Third Sector, is “an intermediary space between business and government where private energy can be deployed for public good”. The robustness and mutuality of all the three sectors is central to the progress of any nation, but the third sector is unique because it is ‘value-driven’, motivated by the desire to achieve social goals.
Indeed, the biggest attraction of the third sector is its contribution to social capital. Jeffrey Sachs, the economist, wrote in the World Happiness Report (2015), that economic performance and social progress increase significantly in a country “with sufficiently high-quality of social capital”, that is, generalised trust, high ethical behaviour, good governance, absence of corruption and high pro-sociality. But sociologists argue that corruption, bad governance, etc are significantly reduced in societies that have “pillars of integrity”, that is, institutions that can create and maintain integrity. Pillars of integrity are also what the sociologist Marcus Felton calls “intimate handlers”. These are social contacts and networks, such as professional bodies, which can influence individual behaviours by setting and enforcing ethical standards and social norms.
Now, I believe that the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD Nigeria), a critical Third Sector organisation, is a pillar of integrity that can drive professional standards, ethical practices and corporate governance in Nigeria. And I have followed its activity with some interest. Indeed, this is my second piece on IoD Nigeria in this column. Last year, after observing the Institute’s Advanced Company Direction Programme (ACDP) in London, and having been bowled over by the event, I decided to share my impression with my readers. Two weeks ago, the President and Chairman of Council of IoD Nigeria, Yemi Akeju, contacted me in London and told me about the 5th edition of the ACDP taking place at the Hilton Metropole Hotel on Edgware Road from 28 to 30 September. I rejigged my schedules to attend the programme. I was not disappointed!
Last year’s ACDP was for two days, this year’s spanned three. This was to allow for educational visits, on Day 2, to Bloomberg and the London Stock Exchange, and a courtesy call on the Acting High Commissioner, Adah Ogah. The participants enjoyed the visits, which they described as informative and stimulating. So also were the training sessions on Days 1 and 3, with two modules – Boardroom Leadership and Governance, and Finance and Business Risk – covered on Day 1, and another two – Current Trends in Governance and The Board and Strategy – on Day 3.

The three facilitators and their delivery were outstanding. The lead facilitator, Chris Pierce, who has a longstanding relationship with IoD Nigeria, is the CEO of Global Governance Services and was the Director of Professional Standards at the IoD UK. He is also a visiting professor of governance at Cass Business School, London. The second facilitator, Michael Parker, is a chartered certified accountant specialising in governance, and the third, Paul Moxley, was head of corporate governance at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
The participants appeared to enjoy all the modules, but Paul Moxley’s presentation on culture and ethics and Chris Pierce’s on the board and strategy, particularly the concept of stakeholder mapping, generated a lot of interest and discussion. It was interesting, if not surprising, to know, for instance, that 45 percent of Nigerians polled in an international survey believed that “most or all of Nigerian business executives are corrupt”. Furthermore, big Nigerian organisations, according to another survey, often acted less in the public interest than in self-interest, less ethically than unethically, and less legally than illegally!
All the participants agreed that corporate governance in Nigeria is in its infancy, still about “ticking boxes”; although there are several corporate governance codes, their spirit is rarely followed. But, for most of the participants, the major takeaways were the practical tools for fostering good corporate governance and ethical behaviour. The key approaches extensively discussed included: actively promoting and operationalising the four pillars of corporate governance, namely, responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency (RAFT), putting in place effective whistle-blowing procedure, rewarding ethical behaviours and punishing unethical ones, and making due diligence an integral part of corporate governance. One participant later poignantly remarked: “If I live my life again, I would do due diligence on the company on whose board I am going to serve and on the people I am going to serve with”. Wise thought, as bad company corrupts good character!
I was impressed by the enthusiasm and active engagement of the participants, which the lead facilitator, Chris Pierce, put down to their quality. “They are not people forced by their companies to attend”, he said, adding: “they were hungry and eager to know more”. Indeed, talking about the calibre of the participants, I believe many of them would be in the “Who is Who” of corporate leaders in Nigeria. For instance, there were Bello Rabiu, Group Executive Director (Upstream) of NNPC; Ahmed Kuru, MD/CEO of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON); Femi Williams, MD/CEO of Chams Plc; Winifred Akpani, MD/CEO of NorthWest Petroleum and Gas; Mohammed Ja’afaru, MD/CEO, Advanced Petroleum; and Alexey Arnautov, MD, Aluminium Smelting. There were also Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, MD, Zenith Insurance; Femi Ayeni, ED, Ecobank; Frank Anenemi, MD, DHL; Awa Ibraheem, chairman of OAK Pensions; and Amy Jadesimi, MD, Lagos Deep Ocean Ltd. Samuel Olakunle Ojo, chief of staff to the Lagos State governor also attended.
Each of the two programmes that I have observed sprung a surprise participant; someone I didn’t expect to see at such events. Last year, it was Grace Alele-Williams, Nigeria’s first woman university leader and former vice-chancellor of the University of Benin, who captivated me with her active participation. This year, it was Rev Helen Oritsejafor, wife of former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev Ayo Oritsejafor. She attended the programme as chairwoman of Eagle Flight Microfinance. A very articulate and knowledgeable woman, she was, in the Nigerian parlance, like the “Mother of the Event”. When I spoke with her later, she described the programme as “incredible”, adding that “You need corporate governance to ensure due diligence in banking, which is my area”.
No participant could, however, be more distinguished than Jacob Ajekigbe, chairman of Keystone Bank and former MD/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria, who I knew and last met in London when he was manager of the UK Branch of First Bank in the mid-1990s. As soon as he saw me, he said pleasantly: “Dr Fasan, you are here! I look forward to reading BusinessDay every Monday because of your column”. I was flattered, of course! Ajekigbe is a Fellow of IoD Nigeria and chairman of its Director Development Committee. However, he attended the programme in his personal capacity, for, as he put it, “the content is relevant to me as a director”. He added that “my expectations of the programme were exceeded”, which, coming from someone like him, was a great credit to IoD Nigeria and the facilitators, and, of course, to Mohammed Jumba, the Institute’s Executive Director, Operations, and Femi Mosaku-Johnson, Head of Training, who both ensured the programme ran smoothly.
If Helen Oritsejafor was like the “Mother of the Event”, Ajekigbe was akin to the “Father”, a highly successful and respected corporate leader, a stickler for transparency, who is passionate about professional standards and corporate governance. I spoke to him later about the relevance of IoD Nigeria. He said that the organisation “is being reinvented” to become more relevant as the professional institute for directors and corporate leaders in Nigeria, and as a strong advocate of boardroom excellence and corporate governance. He argued that the Institute must be a “powerful advocacy voice” in Nigeria, and, thus, must have a very strong research capacity to make evidence-based interventions. I agree!
But, without a doubt, IoD Nigeria has made great strides under its current president, Yemi Akeju, whose commitment to excellence and professionalism has raised its profile. The Institute is playing a good role in facilitating dialogue between government and business, with its “Government Meets Business” programme. This is extremely valuable in a country where public-private sector collaboration is weak. Like IoD UK, which is a powerful and influential voice on the British economy, IoD Nigeria also needs to be a respected voice on the economy. This is why its forthcoming conference, in November, titled “Economic Outlook for 2017”, with local and international speakers, is important. Also significant, I believe, is the Institute’s plan to launch the ACDP Alumni Group next year to create networking and development opportunities, and a forum, for the programme’s participants.
These are all well and good, of course, but after 33 years since being established in 1983, IoD Nigeria should be a chartered body. As I wrote last year, “Given IoD Nigeria’s role in promoting boardroom excellence and professionalism, it should be granted full statutory recognition and powers as a professional institute”. I also said that “President Buhari should see IoD Nigeria as a partner in his administration’s effort to foster good governance in the public and private sectors”. Those views are still relevant. IoD Nigeria can, indeed, be a powerful pillar of integrity, an intimate handler, in this country’s struggle to entrench ethical practices in the public and private realms. It should be empowered and strengthened to be the positive force that it can truly be!

Olu Fasan