The Federal Government has been urged to strengthen Nigeria’s institutions to ensure that public policies and services survive changes in political leadership and deliver sustained economic development.
The call was made on Monday at the 2026 Annual National Management Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Management, held at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, with the theme, “Sixty-Five Years of Management Excellence: Strengthening Institutional Governance in Nigeria.”
Leadership and management expert, Dakuku Peterside, argued that weak institutions, policy discontinuity and poor implementation had prevented Nigeria from fully converting its natural resources, human capital and entrepreneurial capacity into sustained prosperity.
Peterside maintained that Nigeria’s development challenge was not primarily a shortage of resources but the inability to consistently manage them through effective institutions.
“Oil in the ground is not prosperity. A large population is not automatically a demographic dividend. A national budget is not development. A law passed by the National Assembly is not reform. A policy document is not implementation,” he stated.
According to him, development depends on the ability of institutions to plan, coordinate, execute, monitor, learn, correct and sustain national priorities.
The former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency pointed to historical per-capita income figures to illustrate the consequences of weak institutional capacity, noting that Nigeria had been ahead of China on the measure he referenced in 1962 but was overtaken by 2000.
He also cited Malaysia, which started with a higher per-capita income than Nigeria and subsequently widened its advantage.
“Potential is not destiny. History does not reward potential; it rewards organised potential,” Peterside remarked.
He argued that countries that had outperformed Nigeria built bureaucracies capable of planning beyond election cycles, invested in human capital and established institutions that could sustain policies despite changes in political leadership.
“Development is not an event. It is an institutional habit,” he added.
Peterside also linked institutional quality to private-sector investment, noting that businesses needed predictable rules to make long-term investment decisions.
“When rules are inconsistent, businesses delay investment,” he observed, pointing to opaque procurement, weak public-sector management, poor data and inadequate accountability as factors that could undermine economic performance.
He warned that politicising public institutions could weaken competence and erode public confidence.
“When institutions are politicised, competence becomes optional,” Peterside stated.
The call for institutional reform was echoed by the Alara of Ilara Kingdom, Epe Division, Lagos State, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, who served as Guest of Honour and keynote speaker at the conference.
The monarch argued that Nigeria needed to move from personality-driven leadership to institution-driven governance, where the effectiveness of public institutions did not depend heavily on the individuals occupying positions of authority.
“No nation can rise above the strength of its institutions,” Ogunsanwo declared.
He stressed that strong institutions should promote stability, accountability, continuity and public confidence, while preserving institutional knowledge and protecting public resources from being tied to individual office holders.
“This is why Nigeria must deliberately move from personality-driven leadership to institution-driven governance,” the monarch noted.
Ogunsanwo urged leaders to pay greater attention to the systems governing institutions rather than the personalities occupying offices.
“The important question should not always be, ‘Who is in charge?’ The more important question is, ‘What system is in place?’” he added.
He identified competence, integrity and accountability as essential foundations of effective institutional governance, arguing that officials must possess the knowledge and judgement required for their responsibilities while placing institutional interests above personal gain.
“Where there is authority, there must be accountability; where there are resources, there must be transparency,” Ogunsanwo stated.
The monarch further argued that leadership should be judged by whether systems established by office holders continued to deliver results after their departure.
“A truly great leader is therefore not merely one who achieves results while in office, but one who builds systems that continue to produce results after leaving office,” he said.
The President and Chairman of the Council of NIM, Commodore Abimbola Ayuba, called for greater involvement of the institute in national policymaking as it marked 65 years of management practice and professional development.
Ayuba noted that NIM had contributed to the professionalisation of governance, ethical leadership and policy development through training, certification, executive education and management research.
He urged federal and state governments to draw on the institute’s management research and policy experience when designing and implementing public policies.
“NIM houses six and a half decades of strategic management research, policy insights, and practical administrative models,” Ayuba stated.
The NIM president also encouraged government agencies and corporate organisations to make greater use of the institute’s multidisciplinary membership and training programmes.
He noted that its membership cuts across sectors including the military, medicine, engineering, law, education, finance and public administration, providing a broad base for developing cross-sector solutions.
Ayuba pledged that NIM would deepen partnerships with ministries, departments and agencies, private companies and international organisations to improve public-sector efficiency and develop resilient management systems.
The conference’s call for stronger institutions comes amid continuing concerns over policy implementation, infrastructure gaps, weak productivity and the need to create a more predictable environment for private-sector investment.
Peterside stressed that institutional strength would ultimately determine whether Nigeria could convert its resources and potential into lasting prosperity.
“Strong institutions reduce uncertainty, and uncertainty is one of the greatest taxes a society can impose on itself,” he remarked.
He cautioned that Nigeria’s development would remain vulnerable if public institutions continued to depend on individual personalities rather than systems capable of surviving changes in leadership.
“No serious country can build lasting prosperity accidentally,” Peterside concluded.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).