ICSAN tasks professionals with driving corporate change

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The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria has urged governance professionals across the country to go beyond conventional administrative roles and take the lead in driving transformative reforms in both the public and private sectors.

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The charge was given at the institute’s 25th induction ceremony in Lagos, where 224 graduates and 445 associates were formally admitted into the profession.

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Speaking at the gathering, the President and Chairman of the Governing Council of ICSAN, Mrs Uto Ukpanah, emphasised that Nigeria’s prevailing economic landscape requires far more than passive clerical work. Instead, she urged the newly inducted professionals to see themselves as critical stakeholders in rebuilding institutional resilience.

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She said, “This ceremony is so much more than a formal confirmation, as it represents your initiation into a profession of the highest degree and an indispensable position in the governance architecture of any organisation.

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“As chartered secretaries and administrators, you are called not merely to witness leadership but to influence it, not merely to observe governance but to strengthen it, and not merely to administer systems but to help transform them.”

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Ukpanah argued that while infrastructure and technological shifts are essential drivers of modernisation, they are fundamentally incomplete without an ethical core.

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“While physical infrastructure may drive economic activity and technology fuels innovation, it is ethical leadership that inspires trust, strengthens institutions and guarantees sustainable peace,” she added, urging members to establish themselves as custodians of transparency.

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Delivering the keynote address, the Head of the Department of Private and Commercial Law at Babcock University, Prof. Veronica Ekundayo, challenged the traditional metrics used to evaluate Nigeria’s societal and economic progress.

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She argued that true national growth could not be accurately captured by Gross Domestic Product figures alone if the internal architecture of corporate and public entities was compromised.

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“National development should be measured not only by GDP, but by the quality of institutions, the strength of the rule of law, and the trustworthiness of corporate and public records,” Ekundayo said.

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Focusing directly on the professional standard required of the inductees, Ekundayo warned that academic and technical qualifications were rendered meaningless if they were not backed by unwavering ethical behaviour.

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She said, “The hallmark of a great Chartered Company Secretary is not merely what they know, but who they are. No matter how impressive the qualification, without integrity, governance becomes a costume rather than a culture.”

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Drawing comparisons to rapidly developed global economies, including South Korea, Singapore, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates, Ekundayo pointed out that a direct correlation existed between clean corporate governance and the inflow of foreign direct investment. According to her, corporate secretaries serve as the frontline defenders of the documentary truth that international investors rely on when assessing sovereign risk.

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“When a foreign investor decides whether to put one hundred million dollars into Nigeria or Ghana, the difference is made by whether the companies can be trusted, whether their investments are safe, whether the corporate institutions are functional. That is your work. That is national development,” Ekundayo added.

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Reacting to the charges, Uduak Nasara Danmallam, who was among the newly inducted Associate members, expressed a deep sense of responsibility regarding her new role.

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She said, “We are chartered secretaries and, like the induction lecturer said today, we are catalysts for corporate governance change, and change generally in the corporate sector. So, it’s really an honour, and I pledge to work tirelessly to fulfil the tenets of the profession.

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“I look forward to practising corporate governance with more integrity and more intentionality. It’s actually a lot, because being a company secretary embodies a great deal.”

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As institutional environments globally face pressures from economic volatility and heightened demands for public accountability, the consensus from the 25th induction ceremony remains clear: Nigeria’s governance professionals must step up as active, digitally competent, and ethically grounded leaders capable of navigating corporate structures through complex times.

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