‘Nigeria, Still a Commercial Goldmine’

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Chibudom Nwuche, has insisted that Nigeria is still a corporate and commercial goldmine despite her economic challenges.

He stated this in Lagos during the recent Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria members’ evening where he also explained that for years, the leadership of the country has battled to make sure that things work especially in corporate sector but that still, only few are existing.

“For years, the country has battled to resolve the malady in its economy with only very few large corporations exist, particularly in the oil and gas sector, and on the other hand, massive unemployment with thousands of unemployed youths battling to be employed by these relatively few large corporations,” he said.

Speaking on a topic; ‘Corporate Governance in Nigeria; Problems and Prospects’, Nwuche noted that the nation needs more entrepreneurs and more corporations to help reduce the monopoly in the major sectors and unemployment as well.

According to him, “we a need people to be encouraged by a system that can see working, to invest in the country’s corporate and commercial sector and boost the economy”.

He pointed out that the creation of corporation was an attempt to take care of the fear of total loss of wealth and other negative consequences of doing a high risk business, which he added created other problems.

“As a politician, I know how important it is for power not to be too concentrated in the hands of one or a few and why effective checks and balances must be in place,” Nwuche said.

Continuing, he observed that corporate governance was essential in any economy because it would ensure that managers are accountable to the shareholders and the variant interests so as to make sure they are properly aligned.

“In the UK or US, principles of corporate governance have been developed and written out in codes which establish a form of ideal that companies should strive to achieve in order to be run effectively and in a transparent manner and companies are obliged to comply with the provisions of the codes or proffer explanation for non-compliance,” he said.

He further hinted that the rationale behind the compliance is that companies may have unique circumstances that may justify a deviation from the principles stated in the code.

Culled from Thisdaylive.com. Article by Chinazor Megbolu