Dr. Christopher Kolade 


The President and Chairman of the Board of Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN), Dr. Christopher Kolade, has called on all Nigerians to get the nation back to work again with every sense of responsibility.

Kolade said this in Lagos at a recent dinner in honour of Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu on his appointment as the Executive Vice-chairman, ExxonMobil Nigeria. He praised Kachikwu for his quality, integrity and wealth of experience, which ExxonMobil will find as an asset to their organisation.  He said, “If this nation continues to be unwell, we cannot be well. We must get the nation back to a status of respectability. We must take Nigeria seriously.”

According to the elder statesman, “too much has been invested in this nation. We have the human resource that the world is seeking after. We in Society for Corporate Governance believe so much in this country, and think that this country has so much going for it. We can have good governance in this country.”

He said, “Too much has been invested in this country in terms of material, mineral and human resources. Human resource of the most eminent quality, that the rest of the world is looking for”, adding, “it is in this conviction that the Society for Corporate Governance was established, to help institute good corporate governance in organisations.”

In his reaction, Kachikwu said he was overwhelmed by the reception graced by prominent Nigerians and industry icons. He equally thanked God for his recognition, saying, “until Nigeria finds a part that respects dignity of people we will forever be groping in the dark. We should be asking ourselves, what can we do to help Nigeria? In whatever capacity we work, we must bring our best to bear on the nation.’

As a mark of honour for the country, Kachikwu led the audience to recite a pledge: “Nigeria is our home. The Maker giveth Nigeria to us. We have a duty bound in heaven and on earth to do our best in all it takes at all times to make Nigeria work, and to give our respective part on earth.”

The SCGN is an NGO committed to the development of corporate governance and best practices in Nigeria.

The society believes that corporate governance impacts on the well-being of a company, its economic performance and the ability to attract capital on a sustainable basis; that the primary duty of boards and managers is the efficient use of the company’s resources to create value and achieve the objectives of the company for its stakeholders; and that the realisation of those objectives depends to a large extent on how well the company is governed.