NIM Calls for Better Governance, Capacity Building and Technology Adoption
The Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) is seeking a stronger role in shaping Nigeria’s economic and institutional development as management experts call for improved governance, capacity building, technology adoption and sustainable resource management.
The call was made on Wednesday in Lagos at the institute’s 65th anniversary colloquium, where speakers examined how sound management practices could help businesses and public institutions improve performance and contribute to sustainable economic growth.
The colloquium, held at the Chris Abebe Auditorium, Management House, Victoria Island, was themed, “The Role of Sound Management Practices in Driving Sustainable Economic Growth, Institutional Excellence, and National Transformation.”
Delivering the keynote address, former Chairman of Odu’a Investment Company Limited and Managing Director of Blackcod Asset Management Limited, Otunba Ashiru, said Nigeria’s challenge was not a shortage of intelligent or talented people, but the ability to organise its people, institutions and resources in ways that consistently convert talent into results.
“Nigeria does not lack intelligent, talented and ambitious people. Our challenge is how to organise our people, institutions and resources in ways that consistently convert talent into results,” Ashiru said.
He said sound management was essential for effective planning, resource allocation, accountability and improved outcomes, adding that management could become a force for transformation when effective systems and capable managers worked together.
According to him, four areas — corporate governance, capacity building, sustainability, and technology and optimisation — could make a significant difference to economic growth, institutional excellence and national transformation.
On corporate governance, Ashiru said effective governance provided clarity on responsibilities, authority and accountability, while helping institutions manage conflicts of interest and establish checks and balances.
He noted that good governance also created trust, which he described as essential for sustainable economic growth.
“For an economy to grow sustainably, people must trust the institutions around them,” Ashiru stated, citing the need for businesses to trust that contracts would be honoured, investors to have confidence that rules would be applied fairly and citizens to trust public institutions to deliver services.
“Without trust, the cost of doing business rises. Without trust, investment becomes more difficult. Without trust, institutions become weaker.”
Ashiru also called for greater investment in capacity building, describing it as an investment in institutional resilience.
He explained that changing technology, markets, industries and job roles meant institutions that stopped learning would eventually stop growing.
Using healthcare as an example, he said Nigeria’s challenge was not simply whether it had brilliant doctors, but whether it had systems capable of enabling those professionals to deliver their best work at scale.
“The same principle applies across education, manufacturing, agriculture, financial services, energy, public administration and virtually every other sector of the economy,” he said.
Ashiru further urged institutions to view sustainability as a management strategy rather than a constraint on economic development.
He pointed to opportunities in energy efficiency, infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, waste management and urban development, arguing that better resource management could reduce waste, improve productivity and increase competitiveness.
On technology, Ashiru said artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, data analytics and digital platforms could improve organisational performance, but warned that technology alone would not transform institutions.
“Technology amplifies management,” he said, urging organisations to use technology to redesign processes, strengthen internal controls, improve transparency, reduce duplication and support better decision-making.
Ashiru said NIM had a unique responsibility to contribute to these changes because of its position as a repository of management knowledge and experience and its network of professionals across sectors.
He urged members of the institute to promote accountability, competence, respect for processes, responsible resource management and innovation wherever they work.
“The Nigeria of the future will not be built by government alone. It will not be built by business alone. It will not be built by technology alone. And it certainly will not be built by good intentions alone,” Ashiru noted.
“Nations are built by people. People work through institutions. Institutions succeed through sound management.”
The institute’s President and Chairman of Council, Commodore Ayuba, said NIM would adopt smarter approaches as it enters its next 65 years to deliver better results for its stakeholders.
“As we journey into the next sixty-five years, the Institute will not only deploy the best means of getting things done but will work smart to achieve the right result for the benefit of all its stakeholders,” Ayuba said.
Established in 1961 by a group of management professionals to bridge gaps in the management of Nigeria’s public and private sectors, NIM attained charter status through Act 14 of 2003, which empowers it to control and regulate the practice of management in Nigeria.
Ayuba said about 200,000 individuals and 400 corporate organisations had passed through the institute’s membership process.
He said the institute had provided professional management, capacity building, consultancy, organisational re-engineering and human-capital development solutions to public and private-sector organisations, while also contributing to governance discussions through public advocacy programmes.
Ayuba credited the institute’s founders, past presidents, directors-general, registrars, serving and retired staff, as well as individual and corporate members, for sustaining the organisation over the past 65 years.
He also acknowledged the contributions of organisations including the Ford Foundation, British Institute of Management and the United States Agency for International Development to the institute’s development.
The institute’s anniversary received support from the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), whose Director-General and Chief Executive Officer, Adewale Oyerinde-Smart, said strong management was critical to business growth, industrial relations and national development.
Oyerinde-Smart, who was represented at the event, said NIM had remained a pillar of professional excellence for more than six decades through its contributions to leadership development and administrative efficiency.
“Strong management is the backbone of sustainable business growth, peaceful industrial relations and national development,” he remarked.
He said NECA remained committed to working with NIM to advance managerial standards, strengthen ethical governance and promote productivity across sectors.
Oyerinde-Smart congratulated the institute’s council, executives, management and members on the 65th anniversary and expressed confidence in its continued contribution to the Nigerian economy.
The anniversary celebrations began with the unveiling of the institute’s 65th anniversary logo in March and will conclude with a dinner and awards ceremony on Thursday, August 20.
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