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Achieving excellence in
corporate governance
By Orji
Uzor Kalu
I
consider the opportunity given to me to address this distinguished
assemblage of politicians, technocrats, bureaucrats, and academics as a
rare privilege. In the past three years, I have delivered lectures and
addressed special fora on varied national and global issues. Of all the
papers I have delivered, there is none that has appealed to me as much as
the contemporariness of the new Igbo consciousness.
It has
become a routine for me these past three years to accord priority to any
invitation that gives me the leverage to discuss the Igbo Question.
It was
therefore for this reason that it did not take me up to 10 minutes to
attend to your invitation, for me to deliver your anniversary lecture. You
would have observed that I responded to your invitation the same day I
received it.
I am
happy to inform this special gathering that I have been selected as one of
the speakers at the 2004 World Igbo Congress taking place on September 4
in New Jersey, United States of America.
I wish to
confess that the original idea I had planned to espouse on this epochal
occasion I have now reserved for the great Assembly of Ndigbo in God's Own
country. I see this year's Igbo Congress in New Jersey as the greatest
opportunity our people have to assert their position more forcefully in an
effort to address those naughty issues that pose a threat to our corporate
existence as a nation.
What I
have done in this paper is to look critically at those elements that
influence the pattern and style of leadership in Nigeria, particularly the
impact of corruption on our corporate/democratic system, drawing attention
to the peculiarities of the Abia experience with specific reference to our
newly conceived principles of Probity, Transparency and Accountability
(PTA).
There is
no doubt that when Corporate Governance is mentioned, what readily comes
to mind is what Rwegasira refers to as the structures within which a
corporate entity or enterprise receives its basic orientation and
direction. In relation to the topic of my paper the perspective given by
Sullivan is more lucid and appropriate, even though it is narrow.
According to him, corporate governance is regarded as being the heart of
both a market and a democratic society.
Corporate
governance, as a global concept, encapsulates three basic phenomena or
better still characteristics, which determine to a large extent the
success of its application. These phenomena include access to information
(transparency), protection of investors and shareholders' interests
(defence of the rights of the electorate), and enhancement of productivity
(delivery of democracy dividends).
In any
democratic setting, the three phenomena mentioned above form the framework
for its success or failure.
Unfortunately,
in Nigeria, our elected leaders have shown gross insensitivity to the
plight of those who elected them. They spend time amassing wealth for
themselves instead of working selflessly to deliver quality democratic
dividends to the suffering masses. They perpetrate this heinous crime
against the masses through dubious means that include inflated contracts,
white elephant projects, over-invoicing, bribery, concealment,
intimidation, coercion, connivance and outright stealing.
The
recent revelation by the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Due Process, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, that her office saved over N
100 billion from over-inflated contract tenders is worrisome. The
revelation, I think, is only a flash in the pan when viewed from the fact
that billions of naira are lost daily to other cases of malfeasance and
financial impropriety that cut across all strata of our society.
The
backwardness that has terrifically afflicted our nation can be traced to
corruption. In fact, corruption remains the single most deadly scourge
that has ravaged our society. The past 20 years have witnessed a
preponderance never seen in the entire history of Nigeria. Indeed,
corruption has virtually been institutionalised and seen as a way of life.
Which is why the Federal Government's untiring effort at tackling it has
met with not too impressive result.
It is sad
that a nation as richly blessed as Nigeria is now being looked at by the
outside world as a pariah state because of the evil of corruption. There
is no way any society can achieve excellence in corporate governance
without transparency, probity and accountability.
Aware of
the enormous confidence the people repose in us, our administration made
it a norm from the outset to set standards for the smooth governance of
our state. We knew that we would not be able to do much without first
uprooting this cancer called corruption with its twin brother, bribery.
I am
happy to report to this audience that the success story of our government
is hinged on the heart-warming results we have achieved with our
anti-corruption crusade. Today, corruption is no longer fashionable in our
state as we have made our people to imbibe the culture of truth and
transparency. In doing this, we have also inculcated in them, particularly
the civil servants the virtue of empathy. It is this particular virtue
that obviates the urge to expropriate. There is no way any leader can
deliver on his electoral promises without imbibing these unique
attributes.
I can
say, with some surety, that the root cause of all the problems besetting
our nation, including corruption, is greed. Greed is another word for
selfishness, which is antithetical to any known decent human behaviour.
The most
disturbing thing about the tendency of our political leaders to amass
wealth is that they often don't live to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth.
Many of them have died without leaving any traces as to where their loot
is hidden. The ultimate loser is our nation whose resources have been
exploited by these heartless leaders who most times masquerade as the
saviours of their people when in actual fact they are wolves in sheep's
clothing.
Just as
managers of resources, human and material, do under the dictates of
corporate governance by evolving strategies to promote productivity, so
are elected leaders expected to apply creativity and unremitting zeal to
defend the interests of their people. Without sounding incredulous, I
would say that leaders should have the courage and selflessness to lay
down their lives for the defence of the rights of their people. You will
agree with me that since 2001 when I set the tone for what is today the
Igbo Project, I have never relented in the pursuit of what is right for
our people. I have stood up to be counted among the very few persons who
have sacrificed materially and psychologically to reposition Ndigbo in
Nigeria's political spectrum. I have been cajoled, denigrated, harassed,
and intimidated for standing in the front burner of the crusade for
greater recognition of our people in Nigeria. In all of these, I am not
cowed, rather I have been motivated to devote my time, energy and
resources to this noble enterprise.
History
is replete with stories of great men and women who suffered untold
humiliation and, in some cases, laid down their lives for the emancipation
of their people. It is this spirit of courage and selflessness that is
lacking among our people. How do we expect to liberate ourselves when we
have continually held ourselves hostage due to our insatiability and
sabotage against our race? The first step to success in our plan to
elevate our collective worth is to tell one another the truth, for truth
has eluded us for too long.
Corporate
Governance in Rwegasira's view promotes productivity and opens a channel
of communication between the company managers and their publics. It can be
deducted from Sullivan's own positing that what is demanded of elected
leaders are openness and ability to deliver on their electoral promises.
No leader can succeed if he shields himself from the people he governs.
Selflessness,
as an exceptional virtue, demands sacrifice, patriotism, self-denial,
honesty, discipline, innovativeness, attentiveness, meekness, and above
all the fear of God. A leader, who possesses these qualities, stands a
good chance of making a mark as a leader. The awesome accomplishments of
foremost nationalists, such as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo,
Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Chief Herbert Macaulay, Chief Denis Osadebey, Prof.
Eni Njoku, Dr. Akanu Ibiam, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, still stand today as
monuments for which generations of unborn Nigerians will remember them.
They sacrificed everything they had to offer in the struggle for Nigeria's
independence. The Great Zik, for instance, showed immeasurable resilience
and selflessness when he had to leave his lucrative journalism career in
the United States to join the liberation struggle in Nigeria.
�To be
continued tomorrow
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