The effect of culture on Corporate Governance Practices in Nigeria

This study focuses on the effect of culture on the application of corporate governance practices in Nigeria. Corporate governance has been receiving serious attention in emerging markets over the past two decades. But relatively little attention has been given to the study on corporate governance in a country study. The current situations in Nigerian public and private sectors such as the corporate scandal resulting from Lever Brothers Nigeria plc, Siemens, Shell, Halliburton, and Cadbury Nigeria plc, have shown that the issue of fraud, corruption, and corporate scandals cannot be overlooked. Most top management, as this study argues, bring in beliefs acquired from their early childhood into their senior management roles and responsibilities. This study adopts a grounded theory and reports on the effect of culture on the implementation of corporate governance in Nigeria. Based on the interview with 32 staffs, this study identifies the effect of culture that shapes corporate governance and they include abuse of power by top management, weak legal framework, poor recruitment and ineffective control. Although having efficient corporate governance is worth pursuing, this depends on the power of top management, the strength of internal control procedures and the legal framework put in place by management

The Politics of Intergovernmental Relations: Assessing the Many Phases and Challenges of Nigeria’s Judicial System

The judiciary is an important organ of government as it functions as a counterbalancing institution in states. Notwithstanding the nature of the political system in place, either democratic or nondemocratic, the judiciary plays the essential role of interpreting the extant laws and adjudicating between competing interests whether domiciled in individuals, groups, institutions of government or the various arms of government. The stabilising role of the judiciary in modern governance is exemplified by its ingrained function of checking the excesses of individuals, groups and government institutions through the application of state laws. Since Nigeria’s independence, its judiciary has been discharging its constitutional responsibilities. The journey of the Nigerian judiciary has been quite explosive, considering that it traversed both the jackboot of military authoritarianism and democratic governance in diverse forms, with each presenting its own peculiar bouquet of challenges. This chapter examines the various phases and attendant challenges that the Nigerian judiciary has passed through. It chronicles its many challenges and triumphs as well as low points. In sum, the Nigerian judiciary has acquitted itself admirably in dealing with such challenges as judicial independence, judicial accountability and crisis of condence occasioned by judicial recklessness and corruption. However, Nigeria’s judicial system still has room for further improvement in order to continue to command the respect of the citizens and thus, deserve such epithets as “the last hope of the common man”, “the bulwark of the people’s liberty”, “the defender of the rights of the people” and “the bastion of constitutional democracy,” among others, which demonstrate public acceptance and confidence