2025 Annual Directors' Conference
Abridged Communiqué for Newspaper Publication
Wednesday 22nd - Thursday 23rd October 2025
Abuja Continental Hotel (Former Sheraton), Abuja
Introduction
The Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD) Nigeria convened its 2025 Annual Directors’
Conference on Wednesday, 22nd & Thursday, 23rd October 2025, at the Abuja Continental
Hotel under the theme “Leading Through Change: Building Sustainable and Inclusive
Enterprises.” The two-day conference brought together business leaders, policymakers,
regulators, and governance professionals to chart a path for ethical leadership,
enterprise resilience, and sustainable national development.
The Conference commenced with an engaging opening address by Otunba Bimbola
Ashiru, M.CIoD, Chairman of the National Organising Committee, who warmly
welcomed participants and set a forward-looking tone for the sessions. In his remarks,
Otunba Adetunji Oyebanji, F.CIoD, President and Chairman of the Governing Council,
emphasized that inclusive governance and sustainability-driven business practices are
essential to Nigeria’s long-term prosperity. The Conference Chairman, Dr. Shamsuddeen
Usman, CON, underscored that foresight, integrity, and institutional capacity remain the
bedrock of national transformation.
Messages from the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Minister of
Finance highlighted the ongoing digital reforms in the public sector under the Federal
Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP25), and reaffirmed the centrality
of sustainability in building resilient enterprises and a competitive economy.
Representing the Special Guest of Honour, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, CON
commended the Institute’s leadership role in promoting responsible governance, and
reiterated government’s commitment to inclusive development through the
forthcoming 2026–2030 National Development Plan (NDP).
The keynote speaker, Dr. Kola Adesina, MFR, M.CIoD, Group Managing Director, Sahara
Power Group, urged directors to bridge the gap between public policy and enterprise
ambition, stressing that “effective governance enables enterprise, and enterprise drives
national prosperity.”
The Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, emphasized the imperative of
strengthening managerial and systems capabilities through periodic training and
development of those managing public institutions, as a means of building resilient,
modern, and globally competitive educational institutions.
Conference Highlights
Four plenary sessions examined critical themes around risk governance, strategic
foresight, succession planning, and stakeholder synergy. Speakers called on boards to
move from compliance-based oversight to anticipatory leadership embedding
innovation, resilience, and ethical culture in every decision.
The Business Meets Government Dinner reinforced the need for closer collaboration
between the policymakers and business leaders to enhance transparency, policy
alignment, and investor confidence.
Overall, the conference underscored that good Governance, foresight, and inclusion are
the cornerstones of sustainable transformation, while strong institutions and
transparent leadership remain central to national progress.
Key Issues and Consensus
▪ Participants agreed that good governance and ethical leadership remain essential
drivers of economic growth, institutional resilience, and national development. They
emphasized that integrity, accountability, and corporate transparency form the
critical foundations for achieving sustainable prosperity.
▪ Participants resolved that inclusive growth must be prioritized and intentional by
providing MSMEs with the necessary policy and institutional support to scale and
enhance productivity. They also called for expanded access to finance, energy, and
infrastructure to unlock productivity and foster balanced economic development
across the country.
▪ One of the major constraints to inclusive growth and development in Nigeria is the
fragmentation of economic policies and planning, coupled with weak institutional
alignment between the central and state governments. Participants observed that
many initiatives and interventions are often designed without adequate input or
consultation with the local communities they are meant to benefit, resulting in
ineffective implementation and outcomes that fall short of their intended purpose.
▪ Participants noted that inadequate managerial capacity among public sector
leaders continues to hinder national progress and development. They emphasized
the need for a paradigm shift in the management of public assets and institutions
to unlock their potential for productivity gains, innovation, and breakthroughs in
research and development.
▪ Participants identified risk as competitive advantage factors. The top three global
risks — cyber-attacks, business interruption, and economic slowdown, require
boards to move from reactive risk management to anticipatory stewardship rooted
in scenario planning and preparedness.
▪ It was observed that there is a pervasive succession planning gap in Nigeria, with
only 22.8% of Nigerian firms having a formal succession plan, while 77.2% either lack
one or are still in the process of developing it. Cultural barriers, founder dominance,
fear of displacement, and weak talent pipelines were identified as major factors
limiting leadership renewal, particularly within family-owned and founder-led
enterprises.
▪ Participants agreed that transparency is the currency of trust, fostering cohesion
and alignment within organizations, while silence breeds misgivings and hinders
progress. They emphasized that open and consistent communication between
leaders and stakeholders reduces uncertainty and strengthens confidence. By
sharing progress, challenges, and lessons learned, organizations build credibility and
trust that no public relations effort can substitute.
▪ Participants emphasized that stakeholders must focus on co-creating value and
impact to ensure long-term profitability and sustainability. They noted that different
stakeholder groups have varying expectations — for businesses, financial
performance; for communities, inclusion; and for government, social impact. The
most resilient organizations are those that effectively blend profit with purpose and
policy with people, creating shared value across all sectors of society.
Key Outcomes and Recommendations
- To Government
o Improve national coordination and execution. The 2026–2030 National Development
Plan (NDP) must bridge local, state, and federal priorities, ensuring every initiative
contributes to a single, coherent pathway for inclusive, long-term growth.
o Connect local action to national priorities. Stronger collaboration between federal,
state, and private-sector institutions will ensure local initiatives support national
goals, turning Nigeria’s diversity into a source of unity and strength.
o Turn Nigeria’s youth population into an innovation advantage. Align the creativity of
young people with enterprise capital by expanding incubators, accelerators, and
creative-industry funding. When innovation meets opportunity, unemployment
declines and national competitiveness rises.
To the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD)
o Equip today’s leaders for tomorrow’s challenges through expanded director
development programmes focused on AI governance, digital transformation, crisis
leadership, and climate resilience.
o Support reforms in tertiary education by developing governance frameworks that
strengthen management systems and leadership pipelines aligned with industry and
national needs.
o Champion governance ethics and leadership excellence by nurturing a new
generation of directors committed to accountability, innovation, and sustainable
development.
o Advocate for succession transparency as a governance standard, encouraging
mandatory disclosure of board and executive succession plans in annual or
sustainability reports to enhance investor confidence and institutional trust.
To the Private Sector
o Strengthen board–management alignment on strategic foresight. Boards should
embed scenario planning, stress testing, and business continuity oversight into
corporate governance to enhance resilience against economic and operational
shocks.
o Institutionalise structured succession frameworks to ensure leadership continuity,
culture stewardship, and organisational resilience.
o Embed foresight, innovation, and ESG integration as core elements of corporate
strategy and risk management.
o Invest in research and innovation readiness. Organisations should allocate dedicated
resources to experimentation, and capability development to anticipate market shifts
and strengthen competitiveness.
o Prioritise youth and gender inclusion, recognising diversity as a competitive
advantage and driver of innovation.
o Champion ethical and responsible capitalism. Businesses should balance profit with
purpose by embedding transparency, fairness, and sustainability into governance
and decision-making.
To All Stakeholders
o Deepen public–private collaboration in infrastructure, human capital, and policy
implementation.
o Promote open and continuous stakeholder dialogue and transparent reporting to
build trust, resolve tensions, and sustain accountability.
o Institutionalise foresight councils in key sectors to bridge the gap between knowledge,
policy, and enterprise action.
o Prioritize inclusion and gender equity. Set measurable targets for women and youth
participation in leadership, enterprise funding, and national policy implementation.
o Promote a culture of learning and accountability. Both public and private institutions
should conduct post-crisis reviews and share lessons learned to strengthen
institutional memory and adaptive capacity.
o Balance profit with purpose and policy with people. Leaders across sectors should
ensure that governance decisions deliver value not only to shareholders but also to
communities and society at large.
o Ensure that insights and resolutions from forums such as the Annual Directors’
Conference translate into tangible reforms, partnerships, and measurable outcomes
for national development.
Conclusion
The 2025 Annual Directors’ Conference reaffirmed that Nigeria’s progress depends on
principled leadership, institutional strength, and collective accountability. It underscored
that governance drives growth, foresight ensures continuity, inclusion fuels prosperity,
and collaboration sustains transformation.
The Conference closed with a unified call to action:
“Prepare for change before it happens. Lead with integrity and build institutions strong
enough to outlive their founders.”
The Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria remains steadfast in its mission to nurture
leaders who think boldly, act ethically, and strengthen collaboration between business
and government to build a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable Nigeria.
Signed By
Dr. Taiwo Nolas-Alausa, MITD Otunba Bimbola Ashiru, M.CIoD
Director/General/CEO Chairman, Planning Committee