‘Ethical Leadership Missing Link to Deepening Culture of Corporate Governance’

Oluchi Chibuzor

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria, Institute of Directors Center for Corporate Governance (IoDCCG), Center for Corporate Governance, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), and other stakeholders at the just concluded National Corporate Governance Summit have agreed that ethical leadership is a missing link to deepening the culture of corporate governance in the country.

They also agreed that Nigeria needs sound corporate governance as the bedrock of building a strong economy.

The conference with the theme, “Building a Strong and Virile Economy: The Role of Corporate Governance,” attracted both the public and private sector stakeholders in the country.

Interacting with Journalists at the programme, the President and Chairman of the governing council, Institute of Directors, Dr. Ije Jidenma, said the event would trigger further discussion on developing a code for the public sector.

“As you can see, we have CAC, FRC and others coming together to organise the event; this is a good step on the issue of the public sector. Like I said we will get it with the alliance with the public sector so people will begin to realise that it is even in their best interest to stop all these short-term behaviors that people undertake when they embezzle funds for building developmental programmes.

“This attitude is being short-sighted because if we really take a long term view of it, we will see it is in the interest of all of us that Nigeria develops properly and the right governance structure be put in place so that everybody will be a beneficiary, “she said.

Speaking at the event, the Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said good corporate governance principles and practices remained major factors in the continuous growth and prosperity of the economy of the state.

In his words, “Our commitment in this regard has continued to receive global acknowledgement as shown recently in the improved rating of our economy and future prospects.I have no doubt that the summit will address the issues in the various sectors of our economy and come up with recommendations on areas we need to improve upon in the application of corporate governance practices and principles,” he said.

Chairman, African Capital Alliance, Dr. Okey Enelamah, “one of the things that I think would come out of this is to better understand the role of corporate governance as a critical enabler of sustainable economic growth and development wherever it is applied.