Imbibe Corporate Governance to Tackle Economic Challenges, FG Urged

Ugo Aliogo

The Institute for Chartered Secretaries and Administration of Nigeria (ICSAN) has charged the federal government to imbibe the culture of corporate governance in order to tackle the numerous challenges facing the nation.

The President of ICSAN, Dr. Nat Ofo explained that corporate governance ensures that the right things are done at the right time, and people are acting within ethical values, which would promote growth and development for the country, adding, “no individual is trying to disrupt the change agenda of the present administration, the citizenry is working to ensure that the ideal goal of governance is achieved.”

Ofo disclosed this in Lagos recently at the public lecture of the Institute with the theme; ‘Nigeria Vision 2020 and a challenging Economic Situation: Is Governance a Panacea’ and stated that the institute has contributed positively to the policy direction of the nation with its promotion of good public governance activities.

“Through our annual programmes such as lectures and roundtable programmes on corporate governance we churn out practicable ideas, initiatives and policy guidelines to empower the private sector to meet contemporary business challenges,” he noted.

He stated that the harsh economic situations facing the country has prevented it from actualising the vision 2020 agenda, while calling on the government to be focused on its objectives to ensure that the economy moves forward.

Ofo added: “Presently, there is so much hardship such as foreign exchange, fuel scarcity, insecurity and unemployment. If government focuses some attention on these areas, they will be able to win the hearts of Nigerians. Right now, Nigerians are aware of what government is doing, and this is why they are expressing doubts if the government is working towards their interests.

“They should also communicate what they are doing to the people. I think what has happened to this government is that things were not as rosy as they imagined. It has been yearly one year since the present administration came to power; therefore it is enough time for the administration to chart its course and move the nation forward.

“It is not proper to say that nothing has been done to address the insecurity challenges, the issue of insecurity is a very sensitive issue which should be tackled with carefully. Governance is not an easy thing; therefore trying to do the right thing involves a lot of challenges.”

In his address, the guest lecturer, Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) stated that the political, the economic and the psychological processes must be integrated, stressing that the economic process should focus on the transparency of public accounts, the effectiveness of public resources management and the stability of the regulatory environment for private sector activity.