10 November 2009
Titus Eleweke — Covenant University, Ota Ogun State and Fastrack Integrated Solutions Limited (FISL) International, United Kingdom, has organised a one- day International Conference on Corporate Governance.
The conference which took place at the institution's Centre for Learning Resources has the theme, "Imperatives of Corporate Governance: Practice, Principles and Relevance to Nigeria".
Speakers and participants at the occasion were drawn from both within and outside the country.
Declaring the conference open, the Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Professor Aize Obayan represented by her deputy, Professor Charles Ogbulogo identified governance as the major challenge of many sectors.
"The challenge in many sectors is not the men but the governance. Our core essence as a university is to raise a new generation of leaders, therefore, we are competent to host the conference", she said,
She stated that the conference would proffer solutions to some nagging problems in the corporate governance of the country.
In his welcome address, the Registrar of the University, Dr. Daniel Rotimi, who was represented by his Deputy, Mr. Emmanuel Ojo, decried the state of governance in Africa and implored the participants to proffer solutions that, would impact positively on the state of leadership in the continent.
One of the leading experts on corporate governance from United Kingdom, Geoff Truman, in his presentation titled, "Evolution and Principles of Corporate Governance" submitted that the starting point for any meaningful corporate governance is the availability of information.
"You have to get information to really make decisions, but unfortunately, we don't have it. Over 40 percent of the organisations listed in the Stock Exchange don't have Corporate Governance Code. We need to know how other people tackle their problems, then we will be able to come out with a successful code, this will be a stepping stone," he argued.
In his own submission, Prof. Akin Oyebode of the Department of International Law and Jurisprudence, University of Lagos, argued that it was high time stakeholders, corporate governance were strengthened in order to play the game according to the tenet.
His words, "There is an urgent need to strengthened the countervailing roles of non-executive directors, audit committees, shareholders' associations, regulatory agencies, the media and the entire population to rein in corporate entities in order that they play the game correctly and in compliance with the tenets of corporate governance For the modern separation of ownership from management to be meaningful, those put in charge of running business should be put on a short leash so as to ensure compliance with corporate governance"
Dr. Wumi Olayiwola of the Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University in his own paper titled, "Standard and Practice of Corporate Governance in the Nigerian Banking Sector" berated the operators saying that their activities negate the basic hallmarks of banking.
"Banks in Nigeria negate the basic hallmarks of banking which are high degree of professionalism, transparency, and accountability. These are very essential for building strong public confidence in the banking industry. The recent systemic distress in the sector and unpleasant consequences on all shareholders therefore call for certain imperatives of good corporate governance.
"For Nigeria to reap the benefits of effective corporate governance and build a sustainable public confidence in the banking industry there is need to strengthen the enforcement mechanism of the regulatory institutions. The role of the law courts and judicial system in the regard cannot be over-emphasized. There must be consequences for any actions.
It is important to restore the confidence of the average shareholder in the capacity of the judicial system to help him enforce his rights."
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