Follow Us on Google
Henry Uche
The Institute of Directors (IoD), has charged its members to come up with innovative ideas to help the country weather the storms of the pandemic rocking the world economy particularly in corporate organisations.
At the 2020 Fellows’ investiture of the Institute held in Lagos yesterday, the president/Chairman of Council of the Institute, Chris O. Okunowo, F.IoD, made this charge as Five fellows were honored with ‘Distinguished Fellowship’ status while 31 members were conferred fellows of the Institute.
Okonowo maintained that only corporate directors with feasible and viable ideas can stand the test of time, noting that crisis is a strong driver of creativity and innovation when looked into painstakingly.
According to him, directors being role models must deliver on mandate at any time in order to remain in business, adding that they must be conscientious in discharging their management and administrative roles especially during crisis period.
“We must continue to navigate businesses through these crisis, we must imbibe innovative ideas to weather the storms and achieve stated goals. We must continue to uphold good Corporate Governance principles and be guided by the Ethics Code of the Institute at all levels in their business affairs” he maintained.
Speaking on the theme: “Innovations in Crisis Environments – The Role of Directors”, Prof. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, challenge the managers and administrators of Nigerian economy to pay keen attention to what makes other countries and economies thrive at all time.
The Professor of Innovation & Marketing, stressed the need to invest more in Research & Development (R&D), noting that Nigeria can seize the future market Place in the world if men who understand the dynamics of economics streer the affairs of the country.
Atuahene-Gima maintained that Nigeria can do great things even more than China and other countries (on whose shoulders Nigeria partly depends for survival) only if we learn their secrets of productivity. “Copying is not really sealing, we need to be humble to learn what keeps those countries ahead of us. We must look above the shoulders and understand that value offering goes beyond tangible and intangible,”
He noted that in times like this global pandemic, serious minded world leaders are taking the bull by its horns by challenging the ingenuity of their human resources to create solutions for themselves rather than depending on other countries for aids.
“Nigeria and Africa can do better. It’s a matter of giving everyone equal opportunities to explore potentialities. And we must learn to place premium on what we produce. We must deploy backward integration and let talents shine” he asseverated.
