A closer scrutiny at the faces staring out from many company boards, both in the private and public sectors, reveals that such boards are made up of largely the same people.
It is not unusual for one individual to sit on up to five or more boards.
We think that is an anomaly. That is inherently wrong.
It’s difficult to see how a person spread so thin can make an impact.
If anything, such an arrangement defeats the very purpose behind the establishment of Boards of Directors.
Appointing one person to sit on so many Boards actually goes against the very principles of corporate governance the directors are supposed to uphold and enforce.
Ironically, many of the faces littering many of the public service Boards of Directors are people who, in their fulltime professional capacities, have been found wanting.
To a large extent, they are people who have not made any unique individual impacts in their own right.
Rather they are people who bask in the glory of officialdom.
Serious people who consider themselves worthy of such appointments would be careful not to spread themselves too thin lest they compromised themselves and the very institutions they are expected to give overall direction.
Serious business people know the worth of time. They are also result oriented.
They know how difficult it is to juggle between different projects and achieve optimum results.
They know the importance of focus.
That is not what is happening when one individual sits on the board of every parastatal and or on all of the government owned companies that there are.
While it is understandable that some people are appointed to some boards on ex officio capacities, the problem is that once such appointments become too many, the practice becomes counter productive as the people are no longer able to discharge their fiduciary duties effectively.
The problem, of course, is that there is too much shameful favouritism in government, going all the way to cabinet which allows friendship to come ahead of performance.
Surprisingly, people who are already overburdened by several board memberships continue to accept to serve on the new ones.
To them it’s a matter of prestige, power and influence.
They have no regard for the principle behind appointments of an independent Board of Directors.
This alone goes far to show how membership to such boards has now degenerated.
Such appointments have become a source of influence and power.
They have become a stepping stone to opportunities.
Some boards of directors, especially in parastatals, have been accused of conflict of interest; using inside information to win opportunities for their businesses.
Recycling the same people necessarily means other people are left out.
It also means the country never gets an opportunity to see what other talents are available to it in the national pool.
Equally important using the same people means that through the use of the same resources, which are not always necessarily the best available, the nation is losing out as it is not able to fully utilize the resources and brains at its disposal.
At a more personal level, people who sit on more than two or three boards of directors should reflect to see if at all they are doing the nation any service.
It is likely that such people are not able to attend most of the meetings.
When they do they are not able to effectively apply themselves, especially on their oversight role and strategic guidance to the companies and institutions they are supposed to serve.
We think it’s high time that such people should, for the sake of the country, start turning down new appointments as well as resigning in some boards to give way to fresh faces.
