Commuque issued at the end of the 2024 Annual Public Lecture

COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF THE 2024 ANNUAL PUBLIC LECTURE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED SECRETARIES AND ADMINISTRATORS OF NIGERIA (ICSAN), HELD ON THURSDAY JULY 9 2024 AT THE WATERBRIDGES HOTEL AND SUITES, UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE.

1. PREAMBLE   

The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), held its 2024 Annual Public Lecture on Thursday July 9, 2024 at  the Waterbridges Hotel and Suites, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State,with the theme “Driving sustainable development: Public Private Partnership as a catalyst”

The Chairman of the occasion was Dr. Emmanuel Abraham, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Topfaith University, Akwa Ibom State. The Keynote Speaker was Dr. Tayo Aduloju, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). The Discussants, who are all professionals drawn from various sectors of the economy, were Ms. Ayotola Jagun, FCIS the Chief Compliance Officer/ Company Secretary, Oando Plc, Dr. Linus Nkan, FCA, Commissioner of Finance Akwa Ibom State, and Mr. Andy Eyo, (represented at the occasion by xxxxxx), CEO, Excellence Community Education Welfare Scheme.

Also in attendance were the President of the Institute and Chairman of its Governing Council, Mrs. Funmi Ekundayo FCIS; the Vice-President, Mrs. Uto Ukpanah FCIS; the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Francis Olawale, FCIS, the Chairman, Publicity and Advocacy Committee of the Institute, Mrs. Nkechi Onyenso, FCIS, Chairman of the Akwa Ibom Chapter of ICSAN, Mrs. Chinoyerem Ememobong, members of the ICSAN Governing Council, as well as Members and Non-Members of the Institute.

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2.0 OBJECTIVE OF THE ICSAN PUBLIC LECTURE

Being a leading professional body dedicated to the promotion of practice of Corporate Governance and Public Administration, ICSAN organizes Annual Public Lecture as a platform for beaming searchlight on trending issues of national and public interest with a view to identifying challenges and proffering workable solutions.

Using this medium, the Institute has over the years contributed positively to the policy direction of this country by availing the authorities of the much-needed policy guidance and guidelines while the private sector has also benefited from pragmatic ideas and initiatives churned out from these and other programmes of the Institute.

Following the various presentations, speeches and comments during this year’s Public Lecture, the following observations and resolutions were arrived at:

3.0 OBSERVATIONS

The Forum observed inter-alia, THAT:

1. Nigeria faces unprecedented challenges, including geopolitical confrontations, systemic climate shifts with severe consequences, and the interconnected crises of food, fuel, and finance, just like in many parts of Africa. These pressing issues underscore the urgent need for thoughtful engagement with sustainable development as the focus.
2. Sustainable development is a much sought after phenomenon in socioeconomic and political parlance as it is a form of growth and advancement that takes care of both the present and the future. It involves well-articulated plans, actions, and practices in both short-term and long-term ramifications which are mainstreamed into government systems, procedure and policies.
3. While past actions may have contributed to our current unsustainable situation, the future is entirely in our hands hence, the urgent need for collaboration by all stakeholders to create a sustainable world for the present and future generations.
4. The success of the Millennium Development Goals launched by world leaders as evinced in the fact that  at least 21 million extra lives were saved due to accelerated progress and approximately 470 million were lifted out of poverty are cases in point that channelling collective efforts towards sustainability is a worthy and achievable aspiration.
5. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), by their very nature, demand more public-private collaboration. Thus, it is impossible to close the infrastructure gap in Nigeria without PPPs.
6. The SDGs can only succeed where there is a robust mobilization of the commitment, participation, and ownership by the Private Sector.
7. In order to accelerate economic recovery towards sustainable and inclusive growth and development, broad-based strategic actions are required by a wide spectrum of stakeholders to drive poverty alleviation in partnership with a public sector that ensures an enabling environment supported by good policies, regulatory systems and capacity to implement them.
8. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are essential to fast-track the revitalisation of road, rail, and water transportation systems, which in turn would stimulate the economy, create jobs, and expand opportunities.
9. For Nigeria to transform her potentials into concrete growth, there is no gainsaying the fact that the Country needs to have greater collaboration between the Public and Private sectors; this is necessity for actualisation of national progress.
10. Corporate Governance within a country helps to establish direction, guide strategy formulation and implementation, improve transparency, promote reputation and foster checks and balances thereby leading to national growth and development.
11. Sustainable development requires mobilizing the collective capabilities, capacities, and competencies of the public, private, and civil society and the nexus and interface of these collaborations, cooperations, and coordination mechanisms are mostly attitudinal before they are conceptual.
12. It is critical for the success of PPPs whether at the national or global level, that the stakeholders agree on the definition and metrics of success in terms of sustainable development in the short, medium, and long-term.
13. Chief among the reasons militating the optimal Private Sector participation in Nigeria sustainable development include lack of active policy advocacy, dialogue, and debates on policy and legal Frameworks for delivering the development goals; shallow partnership between the Public and Private Sector did not allow for deeper collaboration and lack of capacity and capabilities required by the Private Sector to support, participate, and engage in the implementation of the development goals.
14. The importance of sound political leadership cannot be overemphasized as it constitutes the fulcrum on which the socioeconomic fortune of a nation is balanced, poor political leadership will compromise other elements of growth and development.
15. The success of the some already executed PPPs in Nigeria such as the Ibom Air, the Build Operate and Transfer of Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2), the operations of Lekki Deep Sea Port, concession of Apapa Tin Can, among others is an unequivocal pointer to the fact that PPPs can be leveraged for the national growth and development.
16. It is heartwarming that Nigeria is now at the verge of having a complete legal/ regulatory framework which can serve as the foundations for the much needed economic growth and sustainable development. Earlier this year the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, (FRC), unveiled two new Codes, (sequel to NCCG 2018), which are now in the Exposure Draft Stage. These are:
17. The FRC Exposure Draft of the Nigerian Not-For-Profit Governance Code 2023 aims to assist boards/ boards of trustees and management of NPFOs to better understand their roles and responsibilities, and to develop effective governance practices that support their mission and goal; and,
18. The FRC Exposure Draft on Nigeria Public Sector Governance Code aims to ensure that Public Sector Entities (PSEs) fulfil their overall mandates, achieve their intended outcomes for citizens and service users, and operate ethically, transparently, efficiently, and effectively.

By the time both Draft Code become operative to complement the existing NCCG 2018, the tripod of governance framework will be completed and this will surely deepen the corporate governance culture and practices in Nigeria.

1. The good governance framework offered by this robust template will definitely foster an auspicious regime for private and public collaboration and it will also phenomenally increase the accruable benefits from such collaborations. 

4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

Against the backdrop of the above observations, the Public Lecture Forum recommended THAT:

1. The Federal Government’s strategy for sustainable development must be based on the paradigm of well-articulated plans, actions, and practices in both short-term and long-term ramifications which are mainstreamed into government systems, procedure and policies.
2. To reap the optimal benefits from PPPs, the government must not only contribute resources but it must also put in place the enabling environment, mechanisms, processes and institutions. The Private sector, on the other hand, must provide resources, technical expertise and entrepreneurial dynamism to make the nation a globally competitive productive entity.
3. The government needs to be more committed to building institutions to support entrepreneurship by putting facilities in place that will actuate the entrepreneurial initiatives of millions of enterprising Nigerians.
4. The government needs to ensure proper implementation of all its economic policies with a view to engender a suitable business environment that will be auspicious to private sector players and potent enough to attract foreign investors. The envisaged collaboration of both the public and private sectors must result in a synergy that overhauls the nation’s productivity in multifarious ways
5. For the collaboration between the private and public sectors to be fully maximized in terms of accruable benefits, it must be predicated on the principles of Corporate Governance. Thus, all the stakeholders in both the public and private sector must imbibe good governance practices since it is by so doing that the cardinal foundations of enduring business practices and sustainable development can be laid.
6. In order to facilitate and enrich PPPs, the following interrelated recommendations should be considered by the government: 

1. Government must deliberately and judiciously utilize public sector resources to execute social capital projects in areas necessary to create an enabling environment for all economic agents to operate optimally.
2. The State may participate directly in productive activities to get things started at the frontier or prevent things from falling apart, thus encouraging private sector participation and eventual takeover of such activities at the earliest possible opportunity.
3. The State should normally design appropriate policy packages to facilitate, stimulate, and influence private economic activities to promote a harmonious relationship between the desires of private businesses and households and the developmental goals of society

• Countries must ensure that conduct of their corporations and business concerns are well-rooted in sustainability practices with deference to precisely enunciated standards and principles. Partnerships can work if they are grounded on principles that are consistent and anchored by good governance values.
• The Government must devise broad-based strategic actions by a wide spectrum of stakeholders to drive poverty alleviation, supported by a public sector that ensures an enabling environment through sound policies, regulatory systems, and the capacity to implement them.
• There is a need for clear roles for both the public and private sectors within a developmental framework to foster optimal economic activities.
• Stakeholders in PPP in both national and global platforms must ensure that there is optimal balance between the amount of progress achieved and changes in the rate of progress in the pursuit of sustainable development.
• Political leadership at all levels of government must be committed to the development of society transparently, effectively, and equitably because such an environment is auspicious for the inflow of global private capital.
• Nigerian leaders and policy planners must strive to institutionalize private sector intensive participatory short-term, medium, and long-term national and sub-national development planning processes because where there is no involvement, there will be no commitment.
• Government should deepen Private Sector development to create cooperative, complementary, and collaborative PPPs and avoidance of inordinate adversarial relationships among public and private agents.
• Government should embrace readiness to adjust policies once credible and convincing evidence shows that certain strategies and policies are no longer efficacious considering emerging circumstances and realities.
• Nigeria needs to address issues that have been plaguing the success of PPPs which include disconnect between the pool of long-term capital and infrastructure financing needs, high political risk and uncertain macroeconomic environment to incentivize private capital, and difficulty in the enforcement of the sanctity of contracts, permits, and approvals.
• There is imperative to rebuild the capability of the Nigerian State at the Federal, State, and Local Government levels to stimulate the much needed sustainable development.
• The State must facilitate development in multiple ways including utilizing public resources for social infrastructure and encouraging private sector involvement and participation.
• As part of the ongoing efforts to amend the 1999 Constitution, Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution which provides a constitutional foundation for a Democratically Sustainable Developmental State in Nigeria, should be made justiciable by making its provisions mandatory and enforceable.