CSR and global best practices in Nigeria

Godwin Anyebe

The issue of genuine corporate social responsibility in Nigeria has continued to be a subject of debate among stakeholders. While some corporations are considered as being sincere with their commitment to CSR others are seen as unethical when it comes to issuing of CSR.

According to Business for Social Responsibility, CSR simply means achieving commercial success in ways that honour ethical values and respect people, communities and the natural environment.

This ranges from the respect for local labour laws, for example, to international human rights norms such as the UN Guiding Principles (GP).

In other parts of the world, there are legislations in place to check the activities of businesses as well as protect businesses from abuse either from the host community or even the government.

What this means is that a business should have defined standards of operation – minimum wage, avoid child labour, respect the environment, ensure a safe working environment, among others.

However, this seems not to be the case in Nigeria, there are instances where companies indulge in social marketing and call it CSR.

As a matter of fact, the most annoying aspect of it analysts said is the abuse of labour by multinational in Nigeria.

For them, what most organisations in this part of the world term as CSR is simply “Corporate Philanthropy” where they return a share of their profit to the society irrespective of the way they conduct their business.

Speaking on this issue, Mr. Eustace Onuegbu , the President of International Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (INCSR) and the CEO of De Bernards Consulting Ltd said;

“I often get amazed when in the process of research or otherwise, I come across company websites that involve in what I term as “Image Laundering.”

According to him, “I have often challenged the merits for such awards. One can only conclude that this is another image laundering approach being deployed by some organisations which are made possible due to lack of good governance.

“Organisations are required to conduct annual CSR audits in most parts of the world to ascertain both existing and potential risks that the organisation may be facing and with the help of a qualified usually external CSR auditor(s), design an intervention CSR strategy to mitigate against such risks.”

Also speaking, an expert in CSR, Pwano Maxwell disclosed to Daily Times that, “for clarity, it may be good to apply another definition by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development,

which defines CSR as, “the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.