Lagos: Talent development professional, Ms Ugochi Obi, has urged the 635 new inductees of the Nigerian Institute of Management Chartered (NIM) to prioritise ethical leadership and professional integrity as pillars of sustainable management. Obi made the call at the NIM induction, upgrading and recertification programme on Thursday in Lagos.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Obi noted that Nigeria, rich in human capital, talent, and opportunities, was challenged by systemic gaps in trust, accountability, and transparency. She stated that these gaps could be filled by the right ethical leadership, integrity, and other sound governance practices. Obi stressed the importance of upholding ethics over ease and people over power, emphasizing that ethical leadership involves doing what is right even when it is not convenient.
The NIM President, retired Commodore Abimbola Ayuba, highlighted that the management profession, aimed at improving the well-being of humanity, was pivotal to all professions. Ayuba stated that exemplary conduct was always expected from professional managers in their work, relationships, and service to the nation. He emphasized that becoming a professional member of the institute was a call to duty and responsibility to the institute, the management profession, and the nation.
Ayuba urged the newly certified professional managers to carry out their duties with utmost efficiency, subjecting their self-interest to corporate and collective interests always. He encouraged them to be at the forefront of instilling and promoting virtues in both private and public sector organizations. “I urge you to be change agents wherever and in whatever capacity you find yourselves by insisting on doing the right thing all the time no matter the pressure to do otherwise,” he said. Ayuba expressed a strong belief that adopting the right attitude would help bring the change which Nigeria needs now more than ever before.