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Multinational corporations operating in Nigeria have been urged to emulate telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria, by ensuring good representation of Nigerians on their Board of Directors.
Making the request at a special media briefing addressed by Business Renaissance Group (BRG), a non-aligned, not for profit and non-government organisation, the President, Mazi Omife Omife, underscored the need for adherence to the tenets of brotherhood and corporate inclusion.
Omife noted that the nation’s recent corporate history is replete with some of the best-known and respected corporations that have operated within the shores of Nigeria for, as long as, 50 years, yet membership of their Boards are skewed in favour of non-Nigerians. He observed that most of these notable multinationals have only recently, under compulsion, deemed it expedient to enlarge their Boards of Directors to include Nigerians. Omife commended the recent reconstitution of the Board of Directors of MTN Nigeria as a veritable example of how best to appreciate local human resource. It applauded the appointment of the likes of Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, Mrs. Omobola Johnson and Mrs Ifueko Okauru to the Board of MTN Nigeria. These appointments, Omife observed, is coming on the heels of the immediate past board headed by Dr. Pascal Dozie with the likes of Gbenga Oyebode, and Tunde Folawiyo. All these, he avowed, are coming in less than two decades of MTN operation in Nigeria.
The recent reconstitution of the Board of Directors of MTN Nigeria, according to Omife, is a veritable example of how best to appreciate local human resource. He applauded the inclusion of two outstanding Nigerian women Omobola Johnson and Ifueko Okauru into the MTN Nigeria Board. He opined that their inclusion demonstrates gender sensitivity in a most noble manner that is devoid of mere tokenism that stem from affirmative action. This is because the two Nigerian women, Johnson and Okauru, unarguably, rank among the brightest and most accomplished Nigerians. Omife contended that, taken as a whole, the appointment affirms MTN’s belief in the capacity of Nigerians thereby engendering faith and trust in Nigeria and its citizens. It also showcases Nigeria as a country blessed with abundant human capital and underscores the truism implicit in the patriotic refrain of brand Nigeria pay offline “Good People Great Nation”.
