By Gbenga Abulude (Politics and General Desk)
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has urged owners of firms and heads of enterprises to inculcate sound ethical practices in order to ensure the sustainability and viability of their businesses.
He said this accounted for the collapse of many Nigerian financial institutions from the nineties to the more recent occurrences in 2009.
Osinbajo made this known on Tuesday at the virtual 2020 Conference of the Institute of Directors (IOD).
In a statement issued by the media aide of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said the development and sustenance of viable enterprises were no longer dependent on the size of the corporation and related factors but on sound ethical practices imbibed by all stakeholders.
He noted that the clashes between
inappropriate behaviour and conscience will eventually create a toxic work environment and destroy corporate objectives and visions.
“There is also enough history of how cutting corners and dishonesty ultimately bring down the whole enterprise.
“This we have seen in the facts behind the collapse of many Nigerian financial institutions from the nineties to the more recent occurrences in 2009,” he said.
Osinbajo noted that although it took a while for the institutions to unravel, the point was made that on the long run, unethical practices were unsustainable.
Osinbajo said examples of the collapse of international companies in Nigeria which many thought was too big to fail and household names that were once associated with good values and strong business ethics were strong reminders of just how brittle edifices built on weak business ethics were.
“Besides for quoted companies, the dangers of unethical behaviour are much graver,” he said.
The vice president added, “Local and international investors have greater access to information and more options than ever before, the slightest whiff of scandal or malfeasance can destroy value built up over the years”.
