Institute of Directors Nigeria Inducts New Members

Ikenna Ekwerike

No fewer than 91 new members and 25 associates were inducted into the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria and another four members upgraded through a charge that was administered on them by the first Vice President of the Institute, Chief Chris Okunowo.

In his address, President/Chairman of Governing Council, IoD Nigeria, Alhaji Ahmed Rufai Mohammed reminded the inductees of the principal objective of IoD, which is to train and develop the capacity of directors both in the private and public sectors of the economy.

“Thousands of Nigerian Directors in many corporate organisations have gone through the executive education programmes that the Institute has held in many forms over the years of its presence.
“Similarly, many directors, including permanent secretaries and state commissioners, had also benefitted from the Institutes’ education programmes,” he stated.

Also, in her speech at the event, which took place in Lagos, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, also a member of the Institute and Managing Consultant of a firm, urged the inductees to make ethics a fundamental principle of corporate governance to assure sustainability of the business.

She hinted that the success of any company depended on the quality of its leadership and the decisions the directors and employees made.
“Ethics is the foundation of and reason for corporate governance. Employees are influenced by their context and the culture of ethics in the organisation when making business decisions in their daily interactions – the signals they get from the top,” she said.

She informed them that being ethical in business was a battle, but one which they will always win.
“There may be an initial cost of being ethical. You may have to walk away from some deals or transactions.
“However, being ethical pays off in the long term. The costs and risks of not being ethical in a global and modern business world are much higher and simply not worth it,” she mentored.

Responding on behalf of other new inductees, Prof. Ibidapo Obe said he was quite impressed by the thorough screening exercise each member had to undergo adding that the quality of a director can only be assessed based on ethical standards.

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