By Henry Uche
Following the incessant improprieties in the country over the years, not a few Nigerians including corporate and professional bodies are relenting to halt further damage brought about by actions and inactions of a few persons of questionable character on other Nigerians. The shame brought about by unethical behaviour of public officers not only demean but disturbs the psychology of men and women of repute, since the world sees Nigeria as a corporate entity, thus an ill-behaviour of a person affects the ‘innocence’ of every Nigerian.
In this interview with Daily Sun, the president- elect of Institute Of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, ICSAN, Taiwo Gbenga Owokalade, revealed steps the Institute under his leadership would take (after his investiture on Tuesday, August 10th, 2021) as a Champion of Sound corporate governance and ethical behavior to quell (if not in toto) at least to the barest minimum- the abysmal decline of integrity in the moral fabric of public officers and other state actors.
Excerpt:
ICSAN is reputed as a champion of Sound corporate governance, public administration & management and ethical Practice across sectors, thus, as the president- elect of ICSAN, how do you intend to galvanize critical State actors and stakeholders in the Nigeria project to halt or reduce to the barest minimum, cases of incessant malfeasance?
Honestly, cases of misconducts in the country is becoming unbecoming in recent time. And the image of Nigeria is endangered in the comity of Nations. Being the giant of Africa, we need to show that leadership to other countries in the continent even beyond. To be sincere people must tread with caution especially those in Public space. So, as an Institute we have been in the vanguard of Corporate Governance for over six decades and we shall not relent moral sanity is fully restored in the country.
Thus, the institute under my presidency would redouble its efforts in the following areas:
First, Training and retraining of our members and non -members in the private, civil and public sectors to ensure high probity and accountability in the system. This would go a long way to make them behave in the most acceptable way and manner anywhere they are as ambassadors and champions of sound corporate governance and ethical practices.
Second, working with government at all levels to strengthen our laws and codes in the polity with appropriate penalties to discourage misuse of public funds and facilities. As we keep saying in our institute, Corporate Governance is a journey not a destination. So we shall take this campaign to their (every State Government) doorsteps and ensure they buy in, because what affect one affects all.
Third, we would keep helping stakeholders across all sectors to improve and better the system through Thought Leadership and hand- holding were necessary.
It seems the crusade about code of Corporate governance is yet to sink into the ears of most Public personnel and Organizations, no wonder many still fall into the very trap of unethical behavior, would you rather take this campaign (for Sound corporate governance behavior) to every nooks and crannies of MDAs in particular?
Lets start by refreshing our minds about what CG is all about …It is the framework of rules and practices which ensures accountability, fairness and transparency in an organizations’ relationship with its all stakeholders (financiers, customers, management, employees, government, and the community).
The corporate governance framework consists of (1) explicit and implicit contracts between the company / organisation and the stakeholders for distribution of responsibilities, rights, and rewards, (2) procedures for reconciling the sometimes conflicting interests of stakeholders in accordance with their duties, privileges, and roles, and (3) procedures for proper supervision, control and information -flow to serve as a system of checks-and-balances.
This is all well and good but the major challenge we must reiterate is the fact that there are no equivalent of guiding codes and conventions like the NCCG 2018 (Nigeria Code of Corporate Governance) for the public sector in Nigeria and until this is in place you can not do much in terms of streamlining Corporate Governance standards in the public sector with that of the private sector.
You may argue that there are laws scattered in our books to deal with the subject and we may say this is correct but we have observed many are old and requiring new fillip. So coming with the code for the public sector would be a good journey to start.
Okay, we know that many public figures do not seem to remember that ‘The Young Shall definitely Grow’, so they behave anyhow, they throw away morality through the window, they feign ignorance of prying eyes of the younger generation. With these broad day shameless malfeasances across different sectors of the economy, do you think Nigeria could ever be better in this regard (morality- wise), do you think the rest of the world would ever trust Nigerians having seen the country as one of the most corrupt, can moral sanity be fully restored?
Yes, it can. Nothing is totally impossible. It would take time. But we all must be involved. ICSAN among other professional bodies are working on this issue. Yes the young are watching and shall definitely grow, but we don’t pray for them to grow and become worse as they would take over the saddle of leadership in different sectors. Yes most Public officers across board even in the private sector don’t seem to remember that their actions and inactions tells more about us in the comity of Nations and it would to an extent affect what and how these younger ones behave tomorrow. Howbeit, attitude is a choice.
We choose to behave in a way we want though most times without a full knowledge of the consequences. It might interest you to know that despite these obvious misdeeds by so called leaders across sectors, some persons have resolved not to walk the part of dishonor. There are children who chose not to follow the wrong footsteps of their fathers, so it’s a matter of choice of behavior. For the fact that some persons chose to act unethical should not make us follow suit, if we do -we are aggravating the already damaged image of Nigeria. Thus in our respective endeavors, let’s do the right thing at the right time and place for the right results and reward.
How ready are you for these tasks?
Well it might interest you to know that I have garnered a quantum of experiences, exposure and connections from private and public sector which position me well for the work ahead. By God’s Grace, am a Chartered Secretary, Corporate Governance Practitioner, International Finance Corporation (IFC) certified trainer, Insurance Practitioner, Human Resources Specialist, Pension and Trust Management Practitioner, Community Development Advocate and a Legal Practitioner. I sit in the board of some corporate organisations both local and International.
On the professional front, I’m a member of some professional bodies: Institute of Benefits and Trust Management(IBTM); Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM); Institute of Pension Management(IPM); Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM); Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN); Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria(ICSAN). So we will get there.