Experts say that the expressed resolve of the
Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government to rid the nation of official
corruption, especially in government institutions, would be best upheld
by putting firm corporate governance structures in place to ensure that
the system runs properly and ethically.
They add that one of the pillars of such a structure would
be to ensure that carefully selected individuals are appointed to the
boards of government agencies.
They say that in the past, such appointments tended to be
dished out to political and personal cronies who lacked the knowledge,
experience and integrity to steer these insitutions in the path of
probity, accountability and profitability.
Sam Ohuabunwa, founding chairman of Neimeth international
pharmaceutical plc,a seasoned member of boards of private and public
sector institutions and BusinessDay columnist has lamented that “many
public sector boards pay insufficient attention to good corporate
governance”.
This failure is not surprising, he says, as many
appointees to these boards are there “for purely political reasons, no
requisite experience on the subject matter, no understanding of what
boards do and many never managed any serious businesses or organisations
in the past.”
Victor Ukaogo, professor of History and Internationtional
Relations at the Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, believes
strongly that the “body language of the leader” is what is required to
create a paradigm change in society. If the President continues to lead
by example, every public official will toe the line.
Ukaogo however urges the President to appoint members of
boards for government institutions from a pool of technocrats and
professionals that are in profusion in the country, those having
pedigree and reputation to protect not from the ranks of “professional
politicians” who merely hang on the corridors of power for selfish ends.
“The process of appointing public office holders is
largely opaque, since the appointments are made largely to compensate
contribution to electoral victory. It is the responsibility of the
President or Governors who make such appointments to choose office
holders that can help deliver on their collective electoral campaign
promises,” says Boladeola Agbola, executive director, Cashcraft Asset
Management.
Agbola adds, “a President or Governor that gets his team
right should comfortably win the next poll, either for re-election or
for his party to continue in government.”
Olufemi Olawore, executive secretary of Major Oil
Marketing Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) says that every government
agency has an Act of parliament establishing it, which prescribes how
the board should be constituted and this Act should be followed.
Olawore believes that every board of a government agency
should give proper direction and the board members and the management
should perform their specified functions as prescribed by the Acts,
knowing that “Big Brother is watching”.
For Olawore the boards of government institutions “shouldn’t be populated by politicians”.
Nigeria and indeed Africa have since been plagued by the
phenomenal deficit of corporate governance practices, weak public
institutions, gross and rising inequality, fuelled by a leadership elite
that is self serving and corrupt.
In the case of Nigeria, billions of naira in public funds
have been looted by government officials in a system where checks and
balances are absent and public institutions are mere instruments of
graft and sleaze.
The reckless appointment of persons to boards of
government agencies has been an unfortunate trend in country governance
in Nigeria and has denied government institutions the benefit of good
corporate practices that would have resulted if credible, resourceful
and experienced people, devoid of opportunistic tendencies had found
themselves in the boards of these institutions, governance watchers say.
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