On Tuesday, Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, emphasized the importance of instilling strong corporate governance principles and practices in young people.
This, he claims, will aid in the establishment of viable, long-term institutions.
Elumelu spoke at the 2021 Institute of Directors (IoD) Annual Directors’ Conference, which was themed “Creating the Future: Deepening Corporate Governance Practice through Multi-Sectoral and Multi-Generational Collaborations.”
He claimed that strong corporate governance systems allowed for long-term business success, whereas their absence destroyed institutions and led to corporate failures.
Elumelu urged young businesses and startups to implement proper monitoring, mentoring, and strong ethical standards, with a focus on personal and corporate legacy, in order to enable long-term structures.
“If we want to see young people rise and surpass what we have today, we must consider giving back in the form of knowledge and experience.”
Young people must understand that they must not cut corners and must think about long-term development, while the older generation must show the millennials the way forward by walking the walk and leading by example.
Corporate governance is about structure, rules, and regulations, the absence of which can lead to the demise of institutions.
Elumelu stated that in order to succeed, all organizations must have strategic intent, which will be achieved through strict adherence to corporate governance principles as the basic foundations.
“When you’re a small institution, it’s easy to overlook corporate governance, but if you don’t start from the ground up, you might not be able to later on.”
“When your institution grows in size, the fundamentals and principles are already in place to drive through to corporate success,” he said.
To drive business sustainability, the business mogul tasked young companies with making the right, objective decisions free of sentiments.
He emphasized that the board composition, decision-making, and diversity of start-ups and large corporations must be aligned with the company’s short, medium, and long-term goals in order to achieve success.
“You must not undermine the process, but rather foster a culture of meritocracy and accountability, as we require a strong corporate nomenclature based on corporate governance principles.”
When making business decisions, you must always consider the five constituencies of customers, shareholders, employees, regulators, and people.
“To be consistently successful, you must be guided by core values, ethics, and standard practices,” he explained.
Elumelu praised the IoD for its ongoing efforts to educate Nigerians about sound corporate governance systems that promote economic inclusion, growth, and development.