Nigeria CSR
Reports: Annual Review
It’s the last working day of the year for
millions, perhaps not everyone but many of us. Consequently, it is also the
last day for mainstream reportage on CSR news, developments and activities for
2012. This season is quite notorious, for end-of-year parties, concerts and
other charitable events with the aim of ‘giving back’ to society. These trends
make one wonder what happens or happened in the past 11 months. Anyways, this
is not intended to douse your excitement for Christmas but to reflect on the
year about to end in a few days or few hours – depending on the calendar in
context – with a quick look at CSR Reporting in Nigeria.
Commencing on December 8, 2011; the Nigeria
CSR Reports Blog has published Weekly News Summaries of all news stories
reported as CSR across various Nigerian Media Organizations. No less than 2090
stories have been published and reviewed for this summary, with the following
highlights:
Body of work
The volume of news stories reported as CSR in
the year under review was impressively much more than previous years. Whilst
this should signify progress, a significant percentage of the stories cannot be
classified as CSR. Many Sponsorship initiatives, Cause Marketing Campaigns,
Philanthropic activities amongst others were still reported as CSR across
various Print and Digital Media Platforms.
Through 2012 there was still the absence of a
CSR Section in any Nigerian Newspaper (apart from the Guardian Newspaper that has weekly page) albeit some portals now have dedicated
CSR pages such as Ventures Africa and Brand Crunch. Beyond Nigeria, there is no
specialized portal and virtual information resource on Sustainability, CSR and
Sustainable Development in Nigeria. ThistlePraxis Consulting had announced the development
of an initiative, ‘Sustainable Conversations™
Online’ to encourage real-time engagement and conversations. This is in
addition to CSR Files™, an information and resource product on CSR in Africa.
A critical review of the body of work produced
by journalists across various news beats and media shows the direct
relationship between the stories and the press releases issued by corporate
organizations. The language and seemingly desperate linkage to CSR has greatly
increased to alarming rates and this is reflected in the promotion of many
activities as CSR as well as the reportage of same without classification by
media professionals. This trend is inimical to the growth of the practice and
concept and further confuses stakeholders on the real essence and value of CSR.
Context
As articulated in the previous paragraph, the
context in which many stories are developed, reported and initiatives promoted
constitute a fundamental challenge with institutionalizing and promoting the
business case for CSR in Nigeria. The media, as the fourth estate of the realm
has not lived up to the constitutional duty to hold government accountable to
her social contract. This obligation, by extension to the private sector has
been abysmal in implementation. Many organizations issue press releases,
publish adverts and advertorials for initiatives which show the dearth in
strategy and non-existence of a clear-cut CSR policy, a term otherwise known as
Green washing.
Depth
Consequently, the depth of reporting remains
low. With the contexts of CSR and organizational sustainability grossly
misunderstood, the levels of disclosure, quality of reviews and potential for
stakeholder feedback through media platforms continue to be absent.
Lead stories
The major stories which rank at the
top of news headlines for the year include the summarized stories below. These
have been selected based on stakeholder feedback, engagement activities, number
of rejoinders and reader comments generated.
In March, the controversial
Governor of Nigeria’s Apex Bank was caught in a heated debate following his
donation of 125Million Naira to victims of the terrorist bomb blasts in
Northern Nigeria. These donations would have passed for benevolence if Mallam
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had not stated that they were donated in line with the
Central Bank’s CSR policy (of philanthropy?). Not only did this generate heated
debates, strings of news stories and rejoinders, it sparked a row in the lower
chambers of the Federal House of Representatives.
However, it was not only the CBN
Governor who was made to explain the true meaning of CSR in 2012; his
Commander-in-Chief also flew into the same web in a controversy arising from
the construction of a church building in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, by an Italian
construction firm. Many opposition groups called for the impeachment of the
President and demanded that the firm be made to provide details of this alleged
‘Greek gift’.
Barely a few weeks later, another
round of criticisms saturated the Nigerian news media on the decision of the
President to attend the United Nation's Earth Summit Rio+20 despite the
troubling security situation in Kaduna and Yobe States, which both came under
terrorist attacks a few days to his departure. Jonathan, in a response by his
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, from Rio de Janeiro,
dispelled criticism that his trip amounted to abdicating his responsibility to
Nigerians. Nigeria reportedly participated with the largest delegation to the
largest event on Sustainable Development in the world.
Not long after, the Lagos State
Government was lampooned in an uproar on the demolition of a coastal, shanty
settlement of people in a suburb called Makoko. This slum settlement pre-dates
the country’s independence to almost a century whilst steadily degenerating to
an environmental and health hazard to the commercial nerve centre of the
country. In defense,
the State Commissioner for
Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Adesegun Oniru, explained that the
demolition of shanties in the coastal community was to protect the environment
and the lives of affected residents.
In a twisted tale of Development
Economics and fostering sustainable development, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced
the introduction of 5,000 NGN notes. Despite widespread fears of engendering
inflation, the apex bank tried without luck to convince Nigerians that ‘…the
fears expressed by Nigerians, including economists and finance experts,
had no basis in economics’. Consequently, this sterling attempt at
communicating the development was short-lived as the initiative was suspended by
the Presidency.
Just
a few weeks to the end of the year, Nigerians woke to the shocking realization
that the fuel subsidy
bill for 2012 had hit N1.05 trillion. In a presentation by President Good luck
Jonathan, the Federal Government admitted that the cost of subsidizing fuel was
underestimated. Fuel subsidy protests marked the beginning of the year in
widespread labour strikes which resulted in the increase in pump prices of
petroleum products. The Federal Government also announced a partial subsidy
removal to plough back funds into SURE-P (Subsidy Reinvestments Programme), the
nation’s largest initiative to foster widespread sustainable development since
her independence. In a related development, a request to the National Assembly to approve N161 billion as
supplementary budget to meet the cost of fuel subsidy for the festive
season of 2012 (Christmas and New Year) was made and subsequently approved.
Reporting Standards
From all indicators, reporting did not improve
this year, as stakeholders neglected relevant information and failed to push
for higher levels of disclosure. The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) in
partnership with ThistlePraxis Consulting commenced the adoption process of ISO
26000 Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility which will provide
organizations with a holistic guide to producing sustainability reports in line
with global best practices. In the course of the year, it was announced that
the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) will become compulsory
in Nigeria from 2013. The success of these conventions, standards and guides
depend on the various regulators and compliance levels of respective
organizations.
Reviews
There were little or no professional reviews of CSR policies,
reports, activities and campaigns. It is expected that improvement in the
various indicators will encourage constructive criticisms and reviews in the
coming year.
NB:
The Nigeria CSR Reports Blog is a
class project of the Effective CSR Reporting for Media Professionals (ECSRRMP)
November 2011 class. For more information, log on to:
www.nigeriacsrreports.blogspot.com or send an email to: info@thistlepraxisconsulting.com.
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