Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) addressed an International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Lagos, advocating that the overarching thought for any company intent on performing CSR should be that the company must be just before it becomes generous.
Governor Fashola who spoke at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Lekki, venue of the International Conference jointly hosted by the University of Lagos and Kansas State University with the theme; A Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development In Sub- Saharan Africa said CSR should not be a means of assuaging the conscience of looking good in the society, while the corporate donor is busy filing false accounting returns.
According to the Governor, good corporate ethic must necessarily preceded Corporate Social Responsibility. For instance, a company must first pay its due taxes before venturing to philanthropy. No amount of voluntary community service should properly replace statutory tax obligations. A flurry of so called CSR activities would certainly not do, when the same company is killing or harming the people through uncontrolled pollution or substandard products.
The importance of this requirement and the need to pay attention to CSR as is done to the balance sheet is that to do otherwise and prosper through sharp or unethical practices only serve to erode the growth of the community in which the business prospers, Governor Fashola said.
The Governor who also spoke on recent attempts by the National Assembly to make CSR a legal obligation said the approach may have stemmed from the misconceived notion that CSR starts and stops with a company donating to good causes or making money available for the development of its immediate or extended community.
Regarded in this way, CSR becomes at best an additional tax or an act of self-promoting philanthropy. It appears more or less as a tool for propagating the company's image and developing its market, obviously
with a view to boosting its business prosperity.
The Governor noted that this notion fails to capture the real essence of CSR. In my view, this unfortunate trend is, in fact, a corruption of the concept or, to put it mildly, a deviation from the intended purpose of CSR. It limits CSR to a system whereby companies work with local communities to better themselves. In its original conception, to which I would urge a return, CSR connotes corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, or doing business in a wholesome, responsible and sustainable way, Governor Fashola said.
He explained that a good CSR policy should compel businesses to comply with the letter and spirit of the law, to adopt fair trading practices and generally to maintain high ethical standards in their relationships with shareholders and the general public in accordance with accepted norms.
For every corporate organization, CSR should be an inbuilt mechanism that moderates business practices and shuts out the notion of profits at all costs. This is what gave rise to the view that CSR distracts from the
economic role of business, but I think a closer look will reveal that it does not. Indeed, I believe that any Chief Executive of any business who intends to prosper must pay the same if not a higher level of attention o its CSR compliance as he does to the company's balance sheet, he said.
Governor Fashola reasoned that in an environment like Nigeria where poverty and unemployment are big issues, it will take vigilance on the part of all regulatory and law enforcement agencies, the press, civil society organizations and indeed the general public to draw a distinction between CSR and mere advertisement, stressing that where companies are unwilling to make the necessary trade-offs between short term profitability and social or environmental goals, they should not be allowed to lay claims to CSR.
The Lagos State Governor stressed that in Lagos State, a very laudable CSR effort have been witnessed in the area of security, with corporate social organizations contributing billions to the Security Trust Fund such that the Fund has consequently made significant contributions to the reduction of crimes and enhancement of safety in the State.
Over the last few years and particularly in the past few weeks, we have seen corporate interventions in road construction which have been most impactful in adding to the efforts we make on a daily basis to reduce
the deficit of life sustaining public infrastructure that our economic direly requires. Activities such as can only foster a better community and social development which will definitely affect the participating companies positively, the Governor stated
The Lagos State helmsman stressed that the point must be made that extra statutory effort should not and must not be taken for granted because the gesture of doing good must flow from conviction rather than coercion.
Noting that responsive governance would however engender the requisite support, Governor Fashola declared: If I am permitted to say so, I think the commendable level of CSR initiatives that Lagos ate has benefitted from must be taken as proof of the perception the Lagos State Government has been seen to play its part and has remained active to its responsibilities.
Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) who commended the collaboration between the University of Lagos and the Kansas State University said considering the disparity between the two settings, in terms of funding, infrastructure, equipment and other educational facilities, the efforts is necessary pre-condition for the restoration of balance and spread in academic endeavours, which are essential factors for the well-being and advancement of civilization.
The Governor said he would explore the possibilities of such a collaboration taking place between the Lagos State University and the Kansas State University, adding that such collaboration would do the world a lot of good.
Governor Fashola who also fielded questions from some of the participants during the interactive session that followed said the Lagos State Government is socially responsible to the residents of the State.
He explained that the focus of the government should be about making the Nigerian economy work by developing the kind of human capital that the country needs to drive its economy.
He said at some point in her colonial past, Nigeria was just a trading post and needed people like clerks, salesmen to man the various sales points stressing that the curricular of the nation's tertiary institutions were designed to produce those categories of workers.
In addition, He said it is regrettable that till today needs like electricity generation, traffic management and transport engineering which constitute the core of modern day challenges of the nation are not being addressed through the contents of the curriculum of the nation's tertiary institutions which are still churning out graduates in fields where the needs had diminished.
Governor Fashola said Lagos State took the initiative in setting up a School of Transportation at the State University so that it can drive the quest to create manpower that would feed the need of the transportation
sector, stressing that the light rail been constructed will serve as
the laboratory for the students.
The Lagos Sate Governor who also responded to a question on the ongoing Lagos Light Rail project said the project is not the beneficiary of any Corporate Social Responsibility of any organization but is being driven 100 percent by funds provided by the State Government.
He urged Nigerians to have a rethink on their work ethic, citing the examples of Chinese as people who observe only two days as holiday in a year and that despite the advances they have made in the field of technology they as a people are still very committed to any productive process.
The Associate Provost of the Kansas State University Manhattan who is also one of the conference co- chairmen, Dr Myra Gordon said the presentation by Governor Fashola has brought to the fore the need to examine the modus for generosity by organizations because the CSR must permeate the daily operation of the organization.
She said the Corporate Social Responsibility must permeate the daily operation of the organization in terms of the way they manage the people, and the product, adding that CSR has in the proper environment
done a great deal of good.
She gave a commitment of the Kansas State University to collaborate with the Lagos State University in required fields as requested by the Governor.
Speaking earlier, the co-Chairman of the event who is also the President of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce, Mazi Sam Ohunabunwa described Governor Fashola as a hardworking Governor who has within a short frame of time changed the landscape of Lagos for good.
Mazi Ohnuabunwa who recalled that he was a member of the study group which worked on the blueprint for Lagos for former Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was elected in 1999 said Governor Fashola is implementing the blueprint to the letter.
He expressed optimism that the papers to be delivered at the gathering will go a long way in measuring how far and how deep the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility has taken root in Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Pro-Chancellor of the Imo State University, Professor Chidi Ibe said any move to legislate Corporate Social Responsibility is out of place because such a step will not achieve the desired results.
Profesor Ibe who saluted the integrity of Governor Fashola and his tenacity and irrepressibility stated that the attributes have set a model of development not only in Nigeria and Africa but in the developing world.
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